Home Is Where Your Heart Is
by Stax Fluffington
Summary: *REWRITE IN PROGRESS* To read the re-write, go to my profile and find the story "Free Falling". Longer explanation on my profile.
1. Chapter 1

Summary:

Ripped from our dimension and thrown into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Danielle has one task to complete before she can go home: Save as many people as possable without majorly changing the timeline. Along the way, friends and enemies will be found, and choices will have to be made that could keep her from ever getting back. Will be just a tiny bit Mary Sue-ish but she is going to piss alot of people off so maybe not...?

This will span almost every Marvel movie. Rated T because of language and some kissing... I don't know if that fits under K+. Most pairings from the movies will be in this fic. If I get 20+ followers on this story, I will have a poll to see if I should ship Dani with any characters. Fic based on the story "The Thing About Destiny".

 _Please enjoy this story, I have had it in my head for months. Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story exept for my OC, Danielle White. Everything else is owned by Marvel. If you like it, please comment. It is my first fanfiction, so please do NOT be kind, I want to know if this is a good direction. Thanks_!

- **Stax**

The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and Danielle White was inside studying like there was no tomorrow.

It was her last year of high school, and finals were tomorrow. Of course, she hadn't studied on the weekends, because that would be making things too easy on herself. No, she had to waste her time on VINE because vine was sooo much more important than a high school diploma.

She banged her head violently on the table in desperation.

 _I don't know HALF of this stuff! I'm gonna be held back in twelfth grade!,_ She panicked to herself.

 _...Maybe I can take a quick break and see if there is something on tv to de-stress..._

She slapped herself.

 _NO. You are going to Stay Focused._

She held a staring match with her biology book. She would stay focused. Focused was her middle name. Danielle Focused White.

*Five minutes later...

"Hahaha, WHAT ARE THOOOOSE" Dani chortled as she slumped in front of the moniter. Unsurprisingly, she lost track of time and the "quick break" turned into what seemed would be an all nighter.

Eventually, she glanced at the clock.

She cursed her vine addiction.

"WHEN DID IT BECOME THREE IN THE MORNING" she shrieked. From the room across the hall, her sister swore at her.

"JUST GO TO BED". Frantically, Dani tossed her trigonometry book onto her desk and started flipping through pages in a frenzied manner. She WOULD pass finals, she would GET her diploma, and above all she would NOT fall aslee...

Dani snapped awake. Her book's pages were wrinkled where her head had been. Sunlight streamed through the window above her head. Hesitantly, she turned to look at her clock...

And snapped into action.

"Eight o'clock, I'm SCREWED!" She fussed as she grabbed the first clean clothes her groggy hands came into contact with. After the quickest shower in the history of mankind, she tripped out the door with her purse and a pack of pencils.

Breakfast can wait, she thought, as she fumbled with the lock to her bike. As she rolled down her driveway, she had a horrifying realization.

"A FLAT TIRE? REALLY?" She screamed at the sky, as she abandoned the vehicle on the neighbors lawn. Fifteen minutes, that is how much time she had to get to her school. Fifteen minutes was how long it took to get there when she had her bike AND she peddled as hard as she could.

Jogging/tripping down the sidewalk, trying to balance her backpack and purse, she comforted herself:

 _Tomorrow it will be all over. Tomorrow it will be all over._

The silence in the classroom was abruptly broken by Danielle White, late as always, tripping into the classroom at 8:45 on the dot. Exactly fifteen minutes late. All pencils stopped their scratching as the class observed her, sweating and wheezing, leaning against the doorway. Her shoulder length, dark blonde hair was falling out of her sloppy bun in large chunks, and the "designer" holes in her jeans revealed two oozing, very fresh scabs.

"Ms. White, So glad you could make time in your busy life to join us one last time" Elderly Mrs. Johnson sneered over her thick round glasses. Face flushed with more than just heat, Dani shuffled in a pained manner to her seat, making a point to not look in the eyes of a certain boy who sat in the seat behind her.

The test was already on her desk. The hour of reckoning had come. She placed her pencil case down and proceeded to stare distainfully at the offending sheets.

Dani ducked her head. Ignoring the snickers of the class, she folded her hands and began to pray.

 _God, if you can hear me, please, PLEASE get me out of this. I swear I will study harder, even when I am in college. A fire, an earth quake, ANHTHING. Please please please pl-_

The class looked and gasped in amazement as Dani disapeared in a flash of light, leaving nothing but a small scorch mark and her pencil case.

To be continued :D


	2. Chapter 2

_This is the last setup chapter, tomorrow she meets an avenger *laughs maniacally*. Disclaimer: I own nothing exept my OC, Dani._

"Ow!"

Dani was jerked from her desperate plea as the chair disappeared, leaving her to fall painfully on her butt.

Hissing as she stood up, she looked around- Not only had the chair disappeared, the entire classroom was gone..? She was standing in an alley, a rather wet one at that.

"Hello", came a voice... but it wasnt sound, it seemed to be coming from inside her head. Dani looked around frantically.

There was a floating orb. A freaking, white glowing orb, the size of a basketball, floating right in front of her face. Violently starting, she cursed and fell again.

She felt in her mind the orb's amusement.

"Who are you and where am I?" Dani asked, starting to panic. A tight feeling was rising in her chest.

"I was sent to give you your mission. You will understand where you are shortly" The orb stated in her mind. Dani noted that It glowed more brightly when it "talked". Shaking her head and standing up, she said,

"No, where AM I. I have to take my finals, I am late as it is! Which way is my school?" The orb projected annoyance.

"Your school is not here."

"Well I KNOW that", she said, fear disappearing, replaced by irritation.

"Come have a look", the orb commanded, and began to float down the alley. Becoming angry, Dani stomped after It, only to freeze in shock as they reached the street.

"Where... where am I..." She asked again. The orb bobbed.

"The question is not where, it is when." Along the street, people were walking, but their clothes... Dani recognised the style of dress. If she didnt know better she would say she was in the thirties...

A car drove by. Dani hung her mouth open. The car looked old as well... the street! The buildings lining it, they looked like the buildings her history book had pictures of!

"Yes, you are in the thirties", the orb confirmed what she was thinking.

"No. No. What the heck, no. That isn't possable", she fussed. As she started to walk down the street, ignoring the odd looks she was getting from the pedestrians, the orb drifted after her.

"It is. You are actually exactly in the year 1930. Your mission starts here", the orb glowed. Panicking because the the period apropriate atmosphere was starting to convince her, Dani said angrily,

"Is this some kind of a joke? Time travel isn't real". The orb flew in front of her.

"If you don't trust me, trust your eyes. You have what you need for your mission, so just listen to me for a minute. I don't have much time before my energy wears out, so pay attention". Glaring, Dani kept stomping down the street, Orb in tow.

"You need to save people". She stopped and turned around.

"What?"

"You need to save people. You must preserve the timeline BY saving some people, you must save some people while working AROUND the timeline and some you will need to save in SPITE of the timeline". The orb glowed and started to spark a bit.

"What do you mean, the timeline? What are you talking about?" Dani was becoming majorly frustrated with the orb, and fought the urge to drop-kick It.

"Weren't you listening?" the orb grumped. "Save people but don't destroy the timeline". Sparks from the orb increased, and Its light began do dim. "I am out of power", it stated.

"WAIT! How do I get home?!" Dani yelled. A couple walking by on the sidewalk gave her a look like she was bonkers and gave her lots of room.

"Finish the mission, then you can go home" the orb said, voice fading, as it started quickly disappearing.

"NO! WAIT!" She attempted to grab the now transparent sphere, but her hands went right though. "...Why me...?" She asked, close to tears.

"You asked for it..." the sphere disappeared entirely. Dani just stood there.

"..."

"..."

"I AM ALONE IN THE THIRTIES" she finally yelled at the sky. A woman with a child who had been walking towards her turned abruptly and dragged her little boy away as Dani made the stink eye. Dani screamed. She kicked a rock, conveniently placed near her foot.

It hit an expensive looking car.

She put her hand on her mouth in shock as the owner of the car turned. He started across the street, yelling, and Dani turned and ran, not wanting to see what the man had to say. She ran, purse flapping annoyingly, and didn't stop until she could go no further.

Dani finally stopped crying and stood up from the apartment steps where she had sat.

 _People in the thirties are so nice_ , she observed. A total of seven people had stopped and offered her a handkerchief, and only two of them had asked about her strange clothes. To be honest, even in 2016 her clothes would be strange. Her socks were mismatched, for one thing. The left one was a fuzzy anklet sock, which left weird lint in her toes. She hated that freaking sock...

The right one was... a striped rainbow sock? She cussed to herself. It wasn't even the same length, what was she thinking this morning?

 _This morning..._

She remembered that she hadn't had time to eat this morning. Dani was a black hole when it came to food, her fast metabolism made her hungry all the time. She needed to find food.

Her stomach gurgled in agreement.

She reached into her purse, hoping to find a loose granola bar or something, and found...

 _A bunch of money?_ Ten dollars, to be exact. Dani didn't understand where that had come from, usually she was lucky to have a quarter in there. Well she could buy food. But first... she really needed to fit in better. People were pointing, and somebody was talking to a police man down the road and gesturing at her. Oh, yes, she recognised the guy... he had offered her his ratty handkerchief and had proceeded to flirt with her. Dani had given him an earful. Getting up, she limped away to the next road over to hatch a plan.

The way she saw it, being a girl in the thirties would only make life more difficult. She looked into a shop window at her reflection, and sighed.

The hair would have to go.

She reached for her purse again, she knew she had scissors in there. Dani had lost track of all the times she got in trouble for bringing scissors to school, but now she was glad she had them.

Check that, she was NOT glad. It had taken her years, long long years, to get her hair to grow back after...

She was not going to think of that now. Her hair would not be doing her any favors at this time. Holding her breath, she released the little bit if hair still contained by the bun. With a determined face masking her inner turmoil, she began chopping her locks away.

"Not bad. Not bad if I do say so myself", she commented, turning on point. Her parents had laughed when she had taken an extracurricular class on hair cutting. Who was laughing now, huh?

"Who am I kidding, I'm not laughing", she mumbled. Granted, she had a kind of feminine face, but with the short hair she could almost pass as a boy.

Almost... she looked down at her chest. This would not do. Guys who were as thin as she was did NOT have man boobs. There had to be something in her purse. Reaching in, her hands found... Clothes?

Dani was certain that she hadnt put those in there this morning. She would bet her left leg that she hadn't (but frankly, considering how much that leg hurt, she wouldnt miss it much). Upon shaking them out, she discovered that they were period specific clothes.

"Wooowww" came a voice from across the street. A boy in clean but ratty clothes was looking at what she was holding like it was pure gold. Mentally, Dani facepalmed. _It's the depression, you moron. You cant wear these, they will attract too much attention. They are way too nice_. She looked at the kid... he was about her size.

"You want to trade?" She asked him. His face lit up and he began to strip on the spot.

"Oh. Oh. No. Bro. Dude. Stop that." She said, turning away as the kid, who couldnt have been more than nine, took off everything but his underwear.

"Here!" He said, smile splitting his face. Blushing, Dani made the trade. "Thank you sir" the kid said, putting his new clothes on to her relief. She shuffled away quickly. It was kind of sad that he was willing to do that to get new clothes, but it WAS the depression...

Dani found an ally that didn't lead to a busy street and quickly changed. Her purse had mysteriously produced some medical tape, which she had hesitantly used to bind her chest. It made it slightly difficult to breathe, but hey, at least now she looked like any normal seventeen year old male in the early depression. Her boyish figure made it easy to pull off- for once she was not cursing her flatness.

She abandoned her clothes in the alley and slung her purse over her shoulder. It was an old looking messanger bag that fit in with the clothes, so she decided to keep it with her. Besides, maybe the next thing it would "magically" produce would be a big mac.

A noise caught her attention as she limped down the street. Looking down in an alley, she saw two decently muscular guys beating up what looked to be a kid. Well, Dani had had just about enough with this day, so she decided that pounding these punks would be a good stress reliever. Balling her fists, she stomped down the alley and kicked the one who wasn't facing her square in the butt.

He slowly turned around.

Dani gulped.

"Um... Hi..?" She offered. Well, crap.

 _And there you have it! Guess who the kid getting beat up is? Ah who am I kidding, you know already. But the ACTION starts when I post tomorrow's chapter, so buckle up. Also we see some of her personality tomorrow. I hope you guys enjoyed it!_

 _Again, if I get enough people following I will make a poll to see if I should ship her with someone. If i wind up shipping her with Steve Rogers it will be post-ice Rogers. I ship Steggy too much to do away with that entirely._

- **Stax**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 **HELLO PEEPS I AM BACK!**

 **A few things have kept me from posting:**

 **1) I lost the paper I kept my passwords on. I have it now. I also have a backup paper. Updates are now on Sundays.**

 **2) I realized a huge mistake I had made in this story. When I was checking the dates on the "Captain America Wiki", it said that he was an orphan. I realized this was wrong one day when I was thinking about the "with you till the end of the line" scene in Captain America 2, where it is right after his mother's funeral. So, I spent a week on "research" (aka binge watching marvel movies) and I found some stuff I missed and I have a site that tells me the scripts so prepare for some knock-your-socks-off accuracy. The third chapter is the only one I have edited, and you don't really have to go back and re-read it... I barely changed it where it needed it.**

 **3) My school schedule has changed, hence the Sunday updates.**

 **One other thing: thank you Just Watch Me Fly for your comment. You are kindof my fanfiction hero, it means alot to me that you like it :)**

 _Well, crap_.

The beefy guy Dani had just booted looked about fifteen, but if she had to guess, she would say he could snap her in half without breaking a sweat. Dani gulped.

The other guy took a break from punching the kid in the face and looked at her with murder in his eyes. _Double crap_. This guy was even bigger than the first.

"Get. Out." Said the first one. Dani looked over at the kid. His eyes were bruised shut, bloody and puffy, and he was coughing and wheezing. He wasnt even fighting back at this point. She new she would get her butt handed to her if she didnt back off but she couldnt leave him like this. She placed her purse on the ground.

"Make me" she said simply, and looked the first bully in the eye. He pulled his arm back, and she prepared for the painful connection with her face.

As his fist came swinging towards her, however, time seemed to slow down. In shock, Dani managed to knock his hand aside. Time sped up again as he followed through with the punch, leaving his side exposed to her. She took the opportunity to kick him in the ribs as hard as she could. He stumbled with a grunt, looking surprised.

 _What just happened_ , she wondered. She didnt have time to think as the second brute came charging at her, abandoning the bloody child on the sidewalk. Time slowed down as he came closer. Dani swore- he was at least three times her size. As he moved like he was swiming in maple syrup, she stepped out of the way. Just as he passed her, she elbowed him in the lower back. Hard.

Time resumed normal speed as the guy fell to the ground... and started crying? Dani hadn't realized she could hit that hard... Time returned to a crawl. She didnt see what the problem was, the second guy was down. She then realized that the first guy was behind her.

Dani had no clue what had happened until it was over. Her head seemed to move of its own accord, and a fist broke the air where it had been. She grabbed the fist without turning around and proceeded to FREAKING FLIP HIM OVER HER SHOULDER.

Time sped up. With a painful thud, the thug slammed on the pavement. Dani stood there in shock as the two lay moaning on the ground.

 _How the hell did i do that_ , she wondered. A higher pitched moan directed her attention to the bleeding pile in the corner. _Figure it out later_ , she chided herself. _This guy is gonna die otherwise._

She picked the kid with quite alot of effort, and stepped over the two. Somehow she managed to retrieve her purse without dumping the kid on his head. One of the bullies attempted to get up, but Dani kicked him in the head and he collapsed again. _Gonna feel that tomorrow. Not so tough NOW, are ya?_

This kid couldnt weigh more than fifty or sixty pounds. He was SMALL. Even in her stiff and pained state, Dani was able to carry him two blocks to a crappy park and place him on a dilapidated bench. It was then that she got a better look at him. Blood was still dripping down his thin face, and getting in his short blond hair. He looked like he couldn't be more than twelve or thirteen. She realized he looked very familiar but she couldnt put her hand on who exactly he looked like. A choking cough from him snapped her out of her thoughts, and she turned to her purse.

"Alright, lets see what you have for me" she said to the worn bag. She closed her eyes and shook it... it felt heavy. Opening it revealed... a metal canteen of water, some rags and some white bandages.

"Perfect". She turned to the boy and began cleaning of the thick coating of blood from a cut on his forhead with the water and rags. He didnt like that at all.

"Shh, sit still, I gotta clean this or it will get infected", she chided.

"Wh-what happened.." he coughed.

"I should ask you the same thing" she said, as she cleaned the blood caked on his eyes. "Can you open your eyes?" He complied as best he could with the level of swelling he had. Dani reached for her purse. She needed her flashlight to check for a concussion. The penlight she had was a bit futuristic for the current year but she doubted this kid would notice in his current state.

"They- *cough* they were mu-mugging some lady a-and i stopped to *cough*"

"You saved her?" Dani cut him of, looking at him in surprise. "And she just ran off" she said, shaking her head.

"Yeah", croaked the boy. A quick test with the flashlight showed that he had no concussion. She asked him where else it hurt, and he pointed to his wrist. As she began wrapping the apparently sprained appendage, she asked,

"So, what's your name?" He made a gurgling noise and replied,

"Steve". Dani stopped and looked at him.

"What is your last name?" She asked in a very serious tone.

"Rogers". Dani did not know how to process this.

 _Is this some kind of joke? I am in the thirties with ...a kid Captain America... That is just a movie! Frick! What is happening?!_ Steve's voice pulled her out of her stupor.

"What is your name?" She replied without thinking,

"Dani". Steve said

"That sounds like a tough name. Danny. How did you beat up those guys?"

 _I would like to know that myself._

"Oh, you know, lots of punching and stuff." She finished wrapping the wrist. She didn't know what to do next. if she was actually in the Captain America movie, then shouldn't she warn Steve about falling in the ice?

As soon as the thought had entered her mind of warning Steve, something happened. She... SAW what would happen if she warned him. He would stop the plane before hand and stay in his own time. He and Peggy would get married. They would have children, who would have weaker super powers. He would be old when the events of the Avengers movies happened. People would die because he wasnt there to save them. She saw their faces, she watched them die and it felt as real as if she had been standing there. She saw Bucky, completing the misson, never finding out who he really was. She saw HYDRA take over the world, the thousands they would kill. She saw the face of every person who would die, as they rapidly flashed before her eyes. Some of them she recognised as heros from the Marvel movies. Most of them she didn't know. As she watched, pressure grew in her head. Just as she was sure she would explode, reality snapped back into focus.

She said some swear words that her mother would not approve of.

Steve looked at her, stunned.

"You shouldn't say that" he said, his shocked blue eyes peeking out at her judgementally through the swollen lids. Dani, holding her head, nodded.

 _What was that! It only took a few moments, but all those faces.._. She looked up at Steve. _Well, I guess I am not telling him about being stuck in the ice then,_ she thought to herself. _Crap_.

"I... I need to get back home to make my dinner" Steve said.

"You make your own dinner?" Dani asked, somewhat shocked.

"Yeah, mom will be working until after I go to bed..." He mumbled, clearly unhappy to leave her.

"How about I buy you dinner?" She asked, noting his thin appearance. She would bet they weren't feeding him enough. Steve looked surprised, and tried to protest, but Dani wasn't having any of that.

"No. No, come on. I saved your sorry butt, you owe me", she joked. "I need a friend to talk to, come on and ill call it even". She didn't wait for an answer, just pulled him up by his good wrist and started pulling him in the general direction of an eatery they had passed.

"...okay, fine" Steve said, and the pair limped away.

"So, how old are you, Steve?" Dani asked, as the boy across from her inhaled everything on his plate while trying to do so politely. She quite liked this restaurant. It was so unlike the fast food joints from her time. While it was nothing fancy, the mismatched chairs and worn tables gave the place character. Also, there were only two other people, so Dani and Steve could talk alone. The meal was great. She hadn't even spent half her money for both of them to have a chicken and potatoes dinner.

"Twelve", he stated as soon as he swallowed. Honestly, he could have passed for ten. His face looked twelve though. She saw that his pants were just a tiny bit too small for him. She made a mental note of that.

"You are fifteen, arent you?" Steve inquired. Dani was amused at the assumption. Even though she was seventeen, just a few weeks from eighteen, her height and face made people guess she was alot younger. Steve had actually made a higher guess than most people...

"I am ninety three next week. Pushin' for 100, ya know?" She joked. Steve smiled, puffy eyes making his face a comical sight.

"Really? You don't look a day over sixty" he said with a shit-eating grin. Dani laughed. She had never had any friends who would sass back.

"At least I don't look like a racoon from black eyes" Dani said, which earned a laugh from Steve.

They talked for two hours. Steve eventually revealed that his father had died in combat, and his mother to work as a nurse for long hours to support him. Somehow they wound up huging with Steve crying on her shoulder. He apparently had only one friend, and not much opportunity to talk through his rough, short life. They quickly began to see eachother as friends, and as they left the restaurant, Steve made her promise to come see him soon.

"Sure, but you have to stay out of fights Steve..." she insisted, knowing full well that he would not. He agreed, but he was a terrible lier. Dani could see in his eyes that he had no intention of letting bullies alone. They quickly reached Steve's house.

"Well... goodbye then, Steve" she said. As she started to leave:

"Danny". She turned around, and Steve nearly knocked her over with the biggest bear hug his small body could manage. _This isn't permanent, don't get attached. You are going to finish this mission and go home. Don't get attached._ "Bye" he finally said as he released her, and ran up the crumbling stairs. Dani watched him go.

After a few moment she started to amble down the street. Holding her hands up to her face, she began to wonder how she had taken down those two thugs earlier. If this was indeed the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it would not be crazy for her to have super powers, would it? She figured that she would have to test her theory out.

She saw a perfect opportunity. Across the street was the car she had kicked a rock into earlier! It even had the dent on the hood. She picked up a rock and threw it hard at the door.

"HEY!" Came from behind her. Turning around, she saw the man from earlier, and he looked pissed. Majorly, majorly pissed. Dani put her fists up and took a fighting stance. The man dropped his briefcase and stomped towards her...

And slugged her hard in the face before she could react.

Cussing, she picked herself up of the ground and lunged at the guy. Nothing like what had happened earlier transpired, and she was speedily knocked to the ground again. Bruised and tired, all she could do was lay on the ground in a ball as the man kicked her multiple times in the head and back. Eventually he left, muttering under his breath about "punk kids" and so on.

Dani cursed whatever powers that be who had given her those abilities at one time but not the other. Limping back to the park, she found a bush to sleep under. As she stiffly settled onto a blanket that had shown up in her bag, she reminded herself that she just had to finish the mission and this all would be over soon.

How wrong she was.

 **Heh. Writing Steve is fun so far but I want to show his personality more... What did you guys think of the chapter? She won't be with Steve for the duration of his teen years, I will skip alot, so the actual war will be here soon. I think just one more chapter developing their relationship and then the serum :D**

 **-Stax**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4**_

 _ **Ok, so today Dani meets Bucky and next is the serum. I am updating Sundays now, every Sunday, and maybe an extra in between if I get ahead in writing. I do have chapter five written already and I don't know if I have the strength to hold out until next week... I am drawing a picture of her with her guy makup and with girl makeup (which she will wear eventually) and I'll leave a link in the next chapter. Disclaimer: I own nothing exept for my OC, Danielle White.**_

Dani woke up, unsurprisingly stiff, sore and damp. A lump on the ground had made her neck move to an uncomfortable angle in the night. She rolled from under her bush and stuffed her blanket into her purse as best she could. A glance at the sun showed that it was about nine o'clock.

"...Mom was right... you really CAN ooversleep in any situatuon... " she looked at the lumpy ground she had just been lying on. "I guess that IS some kind of super power". She wondered what exactly she was supposed to do now. She had no clue where to find her "mission", and Steve would be in school for a few hours. She decided to see if she could fiddle with her phone.

Sitting on the park bench from yesterday, bloodstains still on the weathered wood, she powered her phone on. Surprisingly it still had some battery left. Actually, it had full battery... and said it was charging..? Dani would not question it. She would use every bit of that battery. Shifting uncomfortably from the splinters digging into her posterior, she opened her browser. Heck, I might as well try to check my twitter. she mused.

And-

It worked.

IT WORKED.

Ecstatically, she whooped and stood up.

"YESSS! YESSSSS!" Scaring several pigeons off. This was amazing! She could contact her family! They would get her home!

She flipped through her twitter. And noticed something. And said some words that would make Steve cringe.

There were NO updated tweets, not since yesterday when she had been pushed into this movie. None. Any time Dani forgot to check twitter for more than a few hours, her timeline was chock full of tweets. That the tweets had stopped at the time she was pulled from her universe was unthinkable . She went to a news site.

Her fear was confirmed. The date on the news page was YESTERDAYS date. (Or almost a hundred years into the future, whatever.) She had all of the internet at her disposal, but it stopped at the day she disappeared. Angrily she threw the phone into a shrub. _No, what are you doing, you can use that,_ she chided herself _._ She went rooting in the bushes for the phone.

It wasn't broken, surprisingly. She dusted it off and... realised something had changed. _Shoot, wasnt it morning just now?_ She wondered. The sky had changed... It was evening almost, maybe an hour until sundown. _How the hell...?_

"Danny!" She turned to the voice. Steve was right behind her, smiling like he had won the lottery. "YOU CAME BACK!" He yelled, clearly delighted.

"Of course I 'came back', I was never gone" she said, dusting herself off. She noticed a tall kid about Steve's age behind him.

"But you were gone for six days, I counted" he said, sounding really sad.

Frick. That was a crazy long time to oversleep, even for her...

"Steve dragged me here every day to meet you" the kid begind Steve said. Something clicked in Dani's head.

"You're Bucky, right?" She asked. The brunette nodded and held his hand out. "Pleased to meet you" he said, very politely. Dani opened her mouth to reply in kind but Steve cut her off-

"Wait how do you know his name" Steve asked suspiciously". Dani's stomach dropped as she realized that Steve hadn't mentioned his name before.

"You told me yesterday" she said, in a convincing voice with a convincing smile.

"...You mean last week?" Dani cussed to herself. _GET IT TOGETHER!_

"Yeah, remember?" Steve seemed to buy it, as did Bucky.

"Oh yeah that's right" he nodded. "His name is actually James but I call him Bucky and so does his mom and my mom and his sister and-" Bucky cut him off.

"Steve how about we show him our hiding spot?" He asked. The skinny blond immediately broke out in an infectious smile and grabbed her hand.

"YES LETS GO" he practically yelled. Dani was dragged along, and for a few hours she managed to forget her predicament.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"WHY WON'T YOU SIT STILL" Dani screamed up at the sun. After she had left the boys, the sun had jumped back and the newspapers said it had been a few days.

"I'm NOT playing your game" she said loudly at the sky in general. More weird looks from passersby. She was getting very used to that. She stuck her tongue out at a man in a suit. He mad some shocked noise and kept walking. Dani plopped on the park bench. The blood stains had been washed away by rain. Pulling out her phone, she flipped the bird in the general direction of the sky.

"I'm gonna sit here and play candy crush until something improves" she said to the air. The battery was miraculously still charged and still had the little "charging" icon. As she was scrolling through her apps, she noticed that there was a new app she hadnt downloaded, that was just a black square. Opening it showed it had three timers. One was counting up, and it displayed 26 hours seven minutes. It was labled "time used".

 _Dang... that seems about how long I have been here... I bet this is exact!_ The next one had the date. She looked down at the last one, a timer that said "time left" and cussed.

"THAT IS ALMOST A HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS" she said, throwing the phone hard. The people dodged it and made angry faces at her.

Dani could feel her chest closing in. _Is that how long I'm gonna be here...? No. No. That isnt even possable. Get your phone, stupid, its fine._ She retrieved the phone, which was shockingly intact. Attempts to delete the app failed, so she put it in one of her spacious pockets, and set off to find Steve.

Dani was getting really, really tired of this. The timer said she had been here a week. The newspapers said it had been a year. She had used the remaining five dollars on herself and the boys, and more money had appeared as needed. But she had saved Steve from exactly seventeen fights, getting her strange "super powers" only while she was defending him. She had been badly beat up in several non-Steve fights and she was freaking sick of it.

Steve was happy, though. He thought she was the greatest, so did Bucky. The two, now thirteen, had become her best friends and she was theirs. They told her all their problems, and they had PROBLEMS. But she was missing bigger and bigger gaps in their lives now, sometimes she missed two weeks, and once almost three weeks. She had come up with the excuse "I have a job" but wouldn't tell them what it was. For crying out loud, what job makes you dissapear irregularly for weeks at a time?

Still, all three looked foreward to their time together. One week, and Dani already knew them better than she knew anyone at home. Steve flooded her with drawings, and her "magic purse" that never had any junk food in it managed to hold all of them. Bucky always wanted advice about girls... Dani thought it was hilarious that he had no clue the advice was working because it was FROM a girl. It was hard to keep a straight face telling him "dames like _" because of the serious look on Bucky's face. She was almost getting used to this life...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You gotta be kidding me" Dani griped, looking down at her phone. "1938? How is it 1938" she moaned. She had just jumped six years. SIX. YEARS. How the frick was she supposed to explain this to Steve...? He would be... she counted. Frick, he was older than her now, he was twenty! She had last seen him at age fourteen... She looked exactly the same, her timer had said she was only in this dimension for a month and a half...

Clothes. Change of clothes because he would question the fact that she was wearing the same freaking clothes. Her bag produced appropriate clothes, which she changed into under a bush. There was some makeup and a mirror too... she added some "stubble" and darkened her eyebrows a bit. The person in the mirror could kindof pass for a twenty-something year old. Dani shrugged.

"Alright, lets go find Steve".

XXX

A funeral.

Steve was at a FUNERAL.

His MOTHER'S FUNERAL.

She could see him across the cemetary, being very brave and not crying. There were only a handlful of people around as the coffin was lowered into the ground. Dani cursed herself. _Of all the times to show up after six years..._

She had found herself at the cemetery after applying the makeup. Attempts to LEAVE the cemetary had resulted in her being "teleported" closer to Steve. What a load of crap.

"You think he is going to be HAPPY to see me? He probably thinks I abandoned him and here I am at his mother's funeral!" She whispered/yelled at the air. Just then Steve looked up and their eyes locked.

 _Shiiiiiiiiiiit_. He didnt move and neither did he. Bucky followed Steve's eyes and saw her too. _Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit_. Steve started walking towards her as the people began to leave. Dani found that she was unable to move her legs. You gotta be kidding me. YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME. Steve kept walking towards her and Dani attempted to keep a straight face and not flip out. She WANTED to start screaming and flailing her arms until she could run away.

He was ten feet away.

He was five feet away.

He was... hugging her...?

He had grown a bit, and her eyes were now level with his forehead. Somewhat in shock, she put her arms around his shoulders. He was crying just a bit.

"You came back" he said in a sad voice.

"I'll always come back" she promised, hoping this was the truth.

Dani stood by and watched, as the "with you 'till the end of the line" from "Captain America 2" played out in front of her on Steve's doorstep. Bucky and Steve had taken her sudden reappearance very well... she still felt guilty. The war would start next year, she couldn't tell them that though. She had a feeling that things were about to get interesting


	5. Chapter 5

**Ok, so I wound up changing a major mistake in my fanfiction. The note is in chapter three, as are the changes, if you want to know what's up. I know it isn't Sunday, but I had this typed up and I am weak... so here it is :)**

 **I am drawing Dani both as a normal girl and also in her guy disguise. The drawing of her as a girl is in my biography, I will post the other one with the next update.**

 **-Stax**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing exept for my oc, everything else belongs to Marvel.**

Chapter 5

Bucky's POV

Bucky knew something was up. What specifically, he wasn't sure, but he would bet his bottom dollar it was big.

It wasnt that he didnt trust Danny, but...

He didn't trust Danny.

What kind of friend dissapears for six years and claims that they just forgot to show up? No real explanation, just the statement that he was "busy". Something else bothered Bucky as well. Danny had not gotten taller, in fact, he looked just as he remembered him looking. Yeah, his voice was a bit deeper, but it had the tendency to crack and get pichy when he laughed. Steve loved to tease Danny about his "feminine" laughter.

Bucky was worried about Steve. He wasn't questioning Danny's motives. He just seemed happy that Danny had returned at all, that he wasn't the only short and scrawny one. In the few years since his return, Bucky had only confronted him once about his suspicions, asked him what he was hiding. He had denied that there was any secret, and for a while Bucky let it be. But one day it clicked.

Bucky thought Danny was a girl. It all added up... the voice cracking, the lack of real stubble, and the fact that his shoulders were too narrow to be male. Steve had surprisingly not picked up on that. He just seemed so happy that he had a second friend that he was not questioning anything related to Danny.

Now was the worst time to be questioning Danny's motives and gender, however. Bucky had just been drafted... Steve would be dissapointed and probably mad. He would be alone exept for Danny, Bucky didn't want to scare him/her off just as he was leaving. He would be able to have more peace of mind knowing that Steve was safe and with someone who would keep him out of trouble.

The immediate problem was how to tell Steve. Bucky set off to find him.

Dani was getting a little sick of saving Steve. In the last four years, she had saved him from an asthma attack with an inhaler that had appeared in her purse. Each time, she had had that "vision of the future" flash before her eyes, showing her that Steve would have died at any one of those times if she hadn't helped him. She had to deny that she had stuck the inhaler in his mouth, because it was from the future and might tip him off that something wasn't right. Steve was surprisingly gullible but Dani suspected it was intentional.

Bucky, on the other hand, was catching on. He would be overseas soon, though, and so would Steve... Dani wished she knew what was going to happen to her.

But her mind was wandering. Steve was getting beat up in front of her, after he had called out a guy in the theater. She wasn't getting the visions, so she knew she wouldn't get her "super powers" if she helped. Nevertheless, she couldn't leave him to get pounded alone.

She jumped up on the man's back. In the five months since she had left her universe, she had gotten some nice muscles from saving Steve two or three times per week. She got a death grip on the guy's neck, wrapped her legs around his chest, and hung on as he tried to slam her against the walls. Her attempt at a choke hold on the brute's neck was proving ineffective, but Steve's weak attempts to punch him in the gut were at least distracting him long enough for her to free one arm and start punching him in the side of the face.

Steve stumbled back as the man got a clear shot and came up with the garbage can "shield". Dani smiled; she loved that scene in the movie. She quickly lost her grin as the guy bent over and pulled her off that way. She landed on her head, hard.

"Aaaauuuuoooch" came the strange noise from deep in Dani's throat. Steve lost his shield as the man ripped it away and began focusing his attack on him. She couldn't get up. _Bucky, where the heck are you!_

Right on cue Bucky walked into the alley and pulled the guy off Steve. Dani managed to roll over and sit against the wall to get a better view.

"Sometimes I think you like getting punched" he joked.

"We had him on the ropes" Steve joked back. Bucky looked at Dani.

"You ok? He said, noting the way she was holding her head.

"I was born ok!" She enthused, with a disoriented tone and a lopsided smile. Bucky did not look convinced.

"It never fails to amaze me how one day you can take down five guys and the next you get pounded by one looser." Just then he saw Steve's enlistment paper on the ground. "How many times is this" Bucky asked, clearly not happy. He read from the paper. Steve asked

"Did you get your orders?"

"The one-o-seventh. Sergeant James Barnes. Shipping for England first thing tomorrow." Steve looked noticably depressed. Dani made a pathetic attempt to stand up and both men went to help her.

"I should be going" Steve said to Bucky over her shoulder.

"Come on man, its my last night! I gotta get you two cleaned up!

"Why? Where are we going?"

"The future" he said, handing the two an ad for the Expo. Dani laughed uncontrollably- they had no clue how true that would actually be one day.

"You two are about to be the last eligible men in New York" Bucky grinned as they walked towards the center of the expo. "You know, there's three and a half million women here." He looked at Dani out of the corner of his eye, a subtle motion she didn't notice.

"Hell, I'd settle for just one." Steve deadpanned.

"Good thing I took care of that" Bucky stated, turning to wave some women over. Dani realized in shock that there were THREE girls. There had been two in the movie! She glanced at Bucky, who was looking seriously at her behind Steve.

Holy crap does he know!? She worried.

"What did you tell her about me?" Steve inquired of Bucky. He broke the eye contact with Dani and turned to Steve with a smile.

"Only good things." The girls came up and greeted Bucky enthusiastically. Bucky introduced them to Steve and Dani.

"Mary, Victoria, Nancy, these are my friends Steve and Danny" he said, turning and making eye contact with her again. She cursed silently. The blonde girl, who was about Dani's height, sidled up to her and asked

"are you Steve?" Dani could feel her face turn beet red. She shook her head, pointed at Steve and said

"Sorry, that's him." The girl looked disappointed.

"Oh... alright" she said with a fake smile. Poor Steve looked humiliated. Suddenly the other girl was up in Dani's face. She was at least three inches taller, had horse breath and a huge chunk of light brown hair coming out of its pinnings.

"Hello then Danny, I'm Victoria! Pleased to meet you" she said eagerly. Dani got the impression that she didn't get out much. She glanced at Bucky-

That little shit! He was trying desperately to hide a smirk... Dani knew in that moment that Bucky knew she was a girl and he was trying to force her to come out with the truth with this annoying, foul odored girl. Two can play at that game.

"LOVELY to meet you, Victoria. Glad you could come to the expo today, I just know it will be fun." She flashed a dazzling smile at the girl, who seemed pleased that a "boy" was taking such an interest in her. Dani offered the girl her arm and winked. "Come on, gang, we're missing the expo!" She took a moment to enjoy the unadulterated shock on Bucky's face at this display. Steve was trying to stand near the blonde but not TOO close and apparently hadn't noticed her gushing.

The expo was enjoyable. She had to use money from her bag to buy them all snacks, nobody else had any cash on them. Victoria had purchased a whole bag of candy, god knows from where, and was getting taffy stuck in her teeth noisily. The flying car was really impressive, considering that the technology was not even close to being invented in her home dimension. The only part she didn't appreciate about the two hours they spent there was when Victoria leaned in for a taffy-flavored kiss. Honestly the girl was desperate. Being straight and NOT desperate, she would not have actually kissed her exept Bucky was watching. She would get him for this somehow.

Bucky, still looking shocked that Dani had gone through with the kiss, turned to talk to Steve and noticed that he was gone.

"He went to the enlistment office" she said, still trying to QUIETLY gag. She pointed to the sign urging people to join. The two headed over with the now obviously lovestruck Victoria trailing along behing, munching taffy. Dani spotted Steve.

"You really gonna try this again?" Bucky asked Steve.

"Nah, he's walking back in a building to get some fresh air" Dani said sarcastically. Victoria let out a high pitched giggle and hugged Dani's arm with sticky hands. Bucky shot her a look.

"I'm gonna try my luck" Steve stated.

"As who, Steve from Ohio? They're gonna catch you. Or worse, they'll take you!" Bucky fussed. Victoria reached a finger up to her mouth and started to pick taffy out of her teeth. Dani gagged again, which didn't bother her leech at all.

"Look, I know you don't think I can do this" Steve frustratedly ground out.

"This isn't a back ally, this is a war!"

"I know it's a war, you don't have to tell me!" A huge pink chunk of taffy fell out of Victoria's mouth and landed on the back of Dani's hand. Both men turned as she started violently gagging and pulling away from Victoria. Bucky took pity and addressed the girl.

"Uh, Victoria, how about you go find the girls? We'll catch up in a second." Victoria looked discusted with the notion.

"But Daniel is sick, I should stay with him!" She said, sounding more like she was worried that Dani would get away.

"I'll be fine" she rasped. _Daniel, my ass_. She leaned against the wall and tried not to focus on the smells. Victoria hesitantly left after a few words from Bucky. Dani nodded in appreciation but got a strange look in return. He turned back to Steve, who seemed to find the situation funny.

"Why are you so keen to fight? There's so many important jobs!" Bucky asked him. Steve shook his head.

"What am I gonna do? Collect scrap metal?"

"Yes!" Came the reply.

"...in my little red wagon."

"Why not?"

"I'm not gonna sit in a factory, Bucky. Bucky, come on! There are men laying down their lives. I got no right to do any less than them. That's what you don't understand. This isn't about me." Steve grumped.

"Right, because you've got nothing to prove. Don't do anything stupid until I come back."

"How can I, you're taking all the stupid with you." Dani gagged again just then. "Well... maybe not all of it..."

"I resent that!" She groaned. The taffy smell was NOT dissipating. Bucky shook his head.

"You're both punks." He gave Steve a farewell hug.

"Jerk. Be careful" Steve joked. Bucky looked at Dani.

"You keep him safe, understand?" Dani nodded. And then, he was gone.

"Steve, good luck. I... have some news... I have to go out of town for a few months for work." Steve looked crestfallen. Dani knew that he would be off on his own journey shortly, it would be better if he didn't think he was leaving her alone.

"Well... I'll see you again, I hope" Steve said as he hugged her. She gagged over his shoulder, making him jump. He graciously didn't comment on that.

"Ugh... you too... I'm gonna leave before Victoria gets back."

As she left, she looked over her shoulder at him one more time. _Could this be the end of my mission here? Will I ever see either of them again...?_ She caught one last glimpse of Steve as she walked around the corner. She pulled out her phone... only five short months. Five months and they were already her best friends. The other timer still had years on it, however. Maybe it was a glitch... she walked out of the expo, feeling sadder than she had been in a long while.

Dani was jolted awake by a voice in her head and a glowing light. It was early in the morning and she was on concrete, a far cry from the blanket under a bush she had fallen asleep on.

"Wake up you are going to be late" urged the voice in her head. Shocked, she turned around-

"I took the liberty of dressing you as you were running late." IT WAS THE SPHERE.

"WHAT." Dani half-yelled. She looked down at... a uniform. "WHAT AM I LATE FOR. WHAT IS GOING ON." She demanded. A paper fell in front of her. She picked them up and read-

It was an enlistment paper... with her name... for the one-o-seventh. She looked up and the sphere was gone. A crowd of men in uniforms were by a train. And in the middle was Bucky, a shocked expression on his face as he recognised her.

Steve missed Danny. He hadn't been this lonely since the time she left for six years. Darn it, he was a soldier now and he might never see him again. This serum buisness Erskine was preparing to inject into him was terrifying, frankly, and he wished he could have talked it out with Danny beforehand. There was so much he wanted to tell him- this Peggy dame actually talked to him like he was a person, and he wanted advice on how to talk BACK to her without sounding like a moron.

And... he felt like he was missing something. Something big, something obvious. His time away had made him realize that something was off about Danny. As the metal case closed around him, Steve resolved that he WOULD see his best friend again someday and find out what was up.


	6. Chapter 6

**Happy Sunday, people!**

 **If you haven't already, please read the update note in the third chapter. I apologize for the short length of this chapter, but I plan on posting something in the middle of the week as well as next Sunday. Another note: If you guys want a different "regular update day" than Sunday, please tell me. And finally, I only plan on three-ish more chapters before Steve is in the ice. I think I know who she is going to wind up with next but I would like to hear what you guys think.**

 **-Stax**

 **Disclaimer- Marvel owns everything except for my OC.**

Chapter 6

Things were going very, very badly for Dani. Mainly, she was having the crappiest of times trying to keep up with this training. Secondly, Bucky was being a butt to her because he outranked her and she just KNEW he was trying to get her to admit she was a girl. He hadn't confronted her about it yet, but there was no doubt in her mind that he had wised up.

The first week was absolute crap. She remembered it well...

(Flashback)

"Danny, why the hell are you here?" Bucky asked, his mouth still hanging open slightly in shock. She wordlessly handed him her enlistment paper. "How... how did you..."he began, but was cut off.

"Everyone board the train! We need to go, they won't wait for us!" Hollered an imposing looking man in a suit. Bucky gave Dani another look as they climbed on board, and handed her the papers back.

Things did not improve from there on. Dani, having the weak stomach that she did, tossed her cookies two hours into the train ride. Only Bucky would sit next to her after that. Once they reached the training grounds shortly afterwards, everyone was assigned to tiny bunks and told to get outside to start training. After tripping over a very buff, angry soldier, she lost a very short fight and then was given pushups for lining up late.

And they trained. Did they ever train. Dani was exhausted constantly. She contemplated running off, but every time she did, she got the visions. People dying. So she stayed, her misson wasn't over yet.

Apparently the "get the flag from the top of the flagpole" exercise was something practiced at ALL boot camps, because on the fourth day as they were on a jog they stopped at a flagpole.

"Whoever gets that flag down from up there gets to sleep in past moring roll call" the general in charge of this camp, a short and friendly man, announced. Dani took Steve's idea. Once everyone had fallen back in line, she took a page from Steve's book and pulled out the pin.

Or, at least, she TRIED to.

And then a larger guy with larger muscles shoved her aside and pulled the rusted pin out of its hole. Dani cursed internally. She reaallly needed that extra sleep too...

She was shocked that nobody had figured out that she was a girl. She had to redo her chest bindings regularly but had not been caught doing so. And there was something else that really, really helped her stay hidden, but it weirded her out.

Nobody had to use the bathroom.

Seriously.

That had bugged her when she watched movies. How everyone used the bathroom in certain scenes had been a mystery back when she was a nerdy couch potato, but now she had her answer. Honestly, she wasn't complaining, but it was really wierd going half a week without having to... you know.

The nerds back home would love to hear this, she thought sarcastically as she stood in role call.

"Daniel White" came her name. She was lost too deep in thought to notice. "White. Daniel White." Bucky came up behind her.

"WHITE! GIVE ME TWENTY!" He yelled, snapping her out of her trance. She immediately complied. He took being a sergeant very, very seriously. As the rest of the names were called, he stared at her from the side. She could feel sweat dripping down her back. _How much longer can you take the pressure until you cave_ , she wondered. _You could just tell him..._

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"And my name is Danielle and I am from an alternate world where it is the year 2016 and I have a magic bag and a glowing ball told me I have to save people and-" Bucky cut her off:

"Danny what the hell are you talking about" he said, looking kind of concerned.

"Lemme start from the begining" she said, opening her mouth to rant again.

"No, no, I knew you were a girl. I mean what is this talk about another earth... are you drunk?" He started pulling her over to a cot to sit down.

"Dammit no, I have proof. Lemme start from the begining, just let me talk and then you can do what you want" she insisted, and proceeded to launch into a lengthy description of how she had gotten here and how her world was different. "Look- this is a phone. A phone from MY time. It is portable, they have towers that send the sound invisibly. And they have a... a library that you can get to on the phone. It has a screen, like a movie screen, but tiny, and you can read the words on the screen and watch movies too. Look" handing him the phone "swipe your finger like this to move the screen-" Bucky was dumbfounded. Phone still in hand, he backed up looking very afraid.

"Who are you."

"I told you. I know you don't believe me... I don't know what to do, I just want to go home ar this point..." she wiped a hand over her face. "Look-"

"No, I believe you" he said. "You... your face changes when you lie. I know you aren't lying... and this phone shows that you arent crazy...I hope..." Dani stepped forward.

"I can't let you keep that, you could know your future and bad things could happen." Bucky looked a bit surprised.

"But... I thought that you said your world and my world are different..."

"They are but... God, Bucky, its hard to explain... they made a movie about everything that is happening here and now, and if you watched that movie then you could change things. More people could die." Bucky gave her a strange look.

"Less people could also die. You dont know-"

"Yes, yes I do. The sphere, it shows me what happens if certain events change. Usually we loose the war or millions die in the future..." a shocked expression crossed his face. He quickly handed off the phone to her. Then he gave her a look-

"Wait... so you are saying that we will win the war?" Dani gave him a stricken look.

"Um... yes... don't go telling anyone. It could change things. Just don't." Bucky got the biggest grin on his face.

"Ok. But now... I have to figure out what to do with you." Dani facepalmed.

"Turn me in. I can't risk you loosing your rank or being discharged. Tell them that you didn't know." Bucky shook his head.

"No, I mean I have to make sure that you don't get caught. If you really can tell the future... well, I want you around to fix things if we mess up." Dani was shocked.

"You still trust me...?"

"Well... not entirely, but I can tell that you aren't lying to me so... I suppose I ought to give you a chance. Steve won't take it this well, though. Were you planning on telling him...?" Dani shook her head.

"No, I planned on going home." Bucky nodded.

"Is... is there anything about the future that I should know...?" Bucky asked, looking almost afraid to find out.

"Uh..." _Steve getting drugged up, you becoming the Winter Soldier, Steve getting popsicled, both of you waking up in my time_... "there is stuff that you SHOULDN'T know. You knowing will make tons of people die. Please, please don't ask." Bucky agreed.

"So... now that you openly admit that you are a girl... are you single?" He grinned flirtatiously. Dani made a face.

"I like a guy back home. You are gonna have to find someone else to hit on." Bucky still smiled. "Seriously. Like, maybe that wall over there" she pointed. "You will have better luck with the wall." Bucky made a noise implying that he disbelieved that. She shook her head and together they walked back to the camp.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dani swore to herself. How could she be so stupid, how could she have forgotten about this-

It was November. Ten months she had been in this dimension, half of that in an army camp. Today was the day the one-o-seventh went up against Schmidt's army and lost. As of yet, she had hid her nerves from Bucky. Word had gotten to the camp that Schmid's forces were at Rosiano, and the men were gearing up to confront them.

She was about ready to shit her pants.

By some strange stroke of luck, she had been promoted to Corporal. Not because of physical strength, which was still nonexistent, but because she had a knack for planning out attacks. Three or four times, the visions told her that Bucky would die and the troops would be lost if she didn't alter the battle plans. It really wasn't HER doing anything but she couldn't darn well tell the General that. She was going to use her rank to try to fix this.

She hadn't been able to change anything.

Battle was one of the worst things Dani had ever been through. It never got any better. Her stomach surged at the sight of the blood and the unnecessary deaths made her want to cry. She couldn't end a life. Her aim was great, she had discovered, so she found a way around killing people. First shoot the gun out of a soldier's hand, then shoot out a leg or a knee. Then move on to the next one. It helped her sleep at night.

But there were too many people surrounding them now for that to work. Most of the men she had trained with, the people she now considered friends, lay dead around her. Bucky was standing, thank God. Blood everywhere... so much blood. She could feel herself getting light headed. More people were falling around her.

And then she felt a jolt in her abdomen. Looking down revealed a gushing wound. Bucky saw and stopped what he was doing to staunch the flow with his hand and force her to sit down.

"Behind you" Dani warned in a slurred voice, as she felt herself loosing consciousness. The nazi behind Bucky knocked him out with the butt of his rifle. She looked around dazedly to see the few still standing putting their guns down and their hands up. As the world faded to blackness, she felt herself being lifted. Her last conscious thought was that she might never see Steve again...


	7. Chapter 7

**SUNDAY IS HERE AT LAST! Ok, so a few notes: I do not have the picture of Dani in her guy disguise finished yet, the shirt is giving me problems. I should have it ready with the next chapter. Secondly, I could use some help. I need a good site that has the marvel movie scripts. Like, where it shows who says what. This is the page I am using now: wiki/Captain_America:_The_First_Avenger it has a ton of stuff missing. If anyone knows a better site, I would appreciate it.**

 **One last thing: either next week or the week after, I will make a poll to decide who to ship Dani with, if anyone. Just FYI.**

 **-Stax**

 **DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but my oc, the rest belongs to Marvel.**

 **Chapter 7**

Dani came to, on a hard surface and a metallic taste in her mouth. Moaning in pain, she attempted to sit up. She was met with cold metal.

Eyes popping open, she realised she was restrained on a metal table in a crumbling room. With a shudder she took in the devious looking syringes and metal tools on a table in the corner. The door flung open.

"Ah, finally you are awake. We have many questions for you, fraulein." The short man walked through the door, flanked by two bulky looking men with guns. Dani, still half out and in alot of pain, squinted at him.

"Doctor... Zola? Hi!" She grinned at him as best she could. It looked more like a grimace. His own creepy smile fell.

"How did you know my name." _Craaaaap, you done it again. Just keep smiling creepily, maybe he will let it go._.. The doctor walked over to the table, forcing Dani to cock her head at an uncomfortable angle to maintain eye contact. She could taste blood on her teeth.

"Hmm..." he said, looking at her scrutinizingly through his round glasses. In that moment, all her pain fogged mind could think of was how much he looked like Mrs. Johnson, her teacher, in those glasses. "Yes... you will tell us how you know who I am. But first... your energy. You are giving off a field of energy unlike any I have yet seen. I should much like to know... why." Dani cussed to herself.

"It's my charming personality. It gives off a field of pure snark." _What energy field. What you talkin' about, Mrs. Johnson._

"You do not know of it" he observed. "Very well. We have other questions. Such as... why would a female be in the military. Your friends... your friends do not know, do they?" Dani drew a blank. _Juuuust keep smiling. It's gonna be alright_. "They do not... interesting. Well, we will be examining the energy you are exuding, and if you think of something we should like to hear... we might let you have painkillers for your injury." With that he turned and left the room. The armed escorts stayed behind.

"Yeah, you BETTER run, Mrs. Johnson." _How you gonna get out of THIS one, smartass?_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Bucky was not faring much better. The liquid that they had injected in him burned like hell, but he was horrified at what they might be doing to Dani. They had a sibling-like relationship now, and he was always worried that she would get hurt. He cursed his judgement. _What were you thinking, letting a woman stay in the army. Should have turned her in when I had the chance. Should have made her stay at camp. God, she looks like she is so much younger than you. She is practically a kid. What if..._

He had a horrifying thought.

 _These men haven't seen a woman in months I bet, what if they find out she is a girl!? What if they-_

His thought process was cut off by another group of men coming in the room with syringes. Unable to fight them off, all he could do was scream and involuntarily thrash as the burning fluid ran through his veins. For the moment, Dani was off his mind.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Somebody shut the brat up" the man standing guard outside Dani's door ordered in German. The man next to him rolled his eyes and headed in the room. Her noisy, off key rendition of "ave Maria" was cut short as the brute stuffed the closest available rag in her mouth. She mumbled insults at him through the foul tasting cloth. He cussed at her in German and returned to his post, passing Zola on his way in.

"The tests have yielded nothing. But I get the feeling that you are withholding some information from us." He picked up an evil looking metal instrument. "Wat you have been through as of yet is not pain. I am going to hurt you and I will stop vhen you tell me your secrets." Dani's eyes widened and she cussed at him through the rag. She panicked and began thrashing as the metal instrument came closer to her face. Just then an alarm sounded in the distance. Shouting could be heard as well.

"Ah. Unfortunate. I will return shortly." To her relief, he left with the metal tool of death. She could see people running past the door. _I bet it's Steve_. Then she had a horrible thought. _What if he doesn't find me!? WHAT IF I GET BLOWN UP?_ The guard who had put the rag in her mouth came in just then. In a heavy accent he spoke to her.

"They are leaving the factory. I believe you vill be left behind. So, they will not be concerned if I... play with you briefly." To her horror he began unbuttoning her shirt. She yelled her worst curse words at him through the rag but she had no way to make him stop. She went into full panic mode as she felt his rough, meaty hands try to remove her chest bindings-

With a clang, the man fell to the floor. Dani blinked. _Steve!_ He was standing there with his mouth open.

"...Dani?" He said, eyes wide. She pulled on her bonds and yelled

"Steve, help, we need to get out of here!". It came out as a very muffled, "Pthteve helph, we neeth fo geth outh of here!" Still Obviously in shock, Steve undid the metal loops that were holding her down. Dani pulled the rag from her mouth and sat up.

"You're... You're a girl..." he said." Dani nodded frantically, buttoning the middle buttons of her shirt.

"Yes, I'll explain later. Right now we need to move, this place is gonna blow!" Steve seemed to snap out of it. Dani leaned forward to get off the table. As she put her weight on her feet, however, her legs gave out. "So of a bi-" she was cut off by Steve picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder.

Before she could protest, he was running down the halls. She opened her mouth to demand he put her down, but just then she saw Bucky in a room they were speeding past. As his footsteps jostled her, she jerkily yelled-

"STEVE-oof-WAIT-oof-GO-IN-oof-THAT-oof-ROOM-oof" as her stomach slammed into his shoulder with each bound. He complied.

"Steve?" Bucky asked weakly from the table. Steve finally put Dani down as he moved over to Bucky.

"Bucky! I thought you were dead!" Dani managed to stand up against a wall. Steve freed him from his leather straps

"I thought you were smaller..." Bucky said to Steve as he leaned against him for support. Dani interjected.

"We really need to get out. They are gonna blow this place up!" Steve moved quickly, half dragging Bucky in his haste. He snagged Dani as he passed her, dragging her along too. At some point she regained feeling in her legs and made him let her run on her own. Up a rickety metal flight of stairs they went, after seeing the factory exploding below. And up ahead was Schmidt. Dani was suddenly very, very afraid.

She had dealt with people with guns before. This was different. This guy could snap her neck without any effort and would probably have no qualms about doing so.

The exploding factory suddenly seemed like a very appealing alternate route.

 _Get a grip, you can survive this_ , she thought to herself. Steve and Schmidt walked towards eachother on the rickety bridge.

"Captain America! How exciting! I'm a great fan of your films. So Dr. Erskine managed it after all. Not exactly an improvement, but still impressive." He stood barely more than an arms length from Steve, who quickly bashed him upside the head with his shield.

"You have no idea."

"Haven't I" Schmidt sassed, throwing a punch that Steve blocked. The bridge collapsed, the two men barely getting to their respective sides in time. "No matter what lies Erskine told you, you see I was his greatest success!" And he proceeded to RIP HIS FACE OF. Dani couldn't hold back a gasp. The movie didn't give due credit to how gruesome Schmidt's face actually was. "You are deluded, Captain. You pretend to be a simple soldier, but in reality you are just afraid to admit that we have left humanity behind. Unlike you, I embrace it proudly. Without fear!"

"Then how come you're running" was Steve's immediate response. As Schmidt left the factory, Dani ran across the beam that Bucky would have to cross. Being as light as she was, it didn't fall.

"Come on guys we need to MOVE!" Bucky made his way over cautiously. Dani suddenly got the flashing visions. _God no he isn't going to make it!_ "BUCKY JUMP" she screamed in a panic, grabing the railing with one arm and holding out her other for him to grab.

Time seemed to slow down. She could see the bolt popping out of the beam, watched as Bucky jumped, and...

Time sped up as his hand caught in hers. She wrapped her legs around the railing, barely able to hold on. Steve watched, obviously freaked out by the near miss. Laboriously, Dani pulled Bucky up on the platform with his help. The partially healed bullet wound screamed in protest.

"JUMP DARN YOU, STEVE!" She hollered across the gap. He bent back the railing on his side and jumped, just in time to get his bum scorched by a fireball. They quickly scrambled outside and down a rickety fire escape, just as it began exploding.

As massive burning chunks of metal sprayed overhead, Bucky tackled Dani into a conveniently placed ditch and landed right on top of her, knocking the breath out of her. Before she could catch her breath, she felt another heavy shock and an increase in the weight on her back. Frick, Steve is shielding Bucky now... So this is how I die. Not in a blaze of glory, but inadvertently suffocated by my best friends. She could feel her vision going black around the edges, unable to make any sound.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She came to with a very worried Steve face hovering over her.

"Good, you're alive. We need to talk" he said. Dani looked around and realized that Steve was carrying her, he and the rest of the one-oh-seventh were walking back to the camp. They were all looking at her funny.

"Why didn't you tell me." Steve looked hurt as he asked. "You told Bucky and you never told me. Why did you lie for all that time?" Dani felt a massive twinge of guilt in her chest.

"Well... for starters, Bucky figured it out on his own." Steve gave a Sideways glance at Bucky, walking next to them. He shrugged and gave Dani an apologetic look. "Also, you wouldn't have let me come fight if you had known... would you mind putting me down?" Steve shook his head.

"You pretended to be a boy long before there was a war, don't pretend that is the reason."

"Steve... I need to explain something to you in private. You will understand then." Steve narrowed his eyes at her.

"Fine. But, I am getting you sent home. Its not safe here." Dani made a frustrated noise.

"Just put me down." Steve did so and walked ahead, leaving her to hobble on her own. Bucky came up next to her.

"I'm sorry" he said. She cocked her head at him.

"What for?"

"I should have gotten you sent home alot sooner. You shouldn't have to be in danger..." Dani made a face.

"You know you wouldn't have made it across the beam if I hadn't been there, right?" Bucky didn't look convinced.

"Steve and I talked. We are getting you sent back home. We both would be upset if you died." Dani opened her mouth to let out a snarky comment, but realized that they were walking into camp. She felt as though a dagger of ice had been stabbed through her heart. _Now is the moment of truth..._

Dani couldn't hear what Steve and the Colonel were saying up ahead, but she joined in the clapping and cheering after Bucky loudly yelled "Lets hear it for Captain America!" Suddenly she realised Col. Phillips was right next to her.

"I need to see you two in my tent" he drawled to her and Bucky before walking away. Dani gulped. It was too late now to desert. As she went into the tent with Bucky, she shuddered.

Steve was already there. The Colonel gestured for the three to sit in the provided wooden chairs. Steve shot her an unreadable look.

"Corporal White. I have been informed by the Captain that you are not who you say you are. Care to give your side of the story...?" Dani shifted uncomfortably.

"...My name is DANIELLE, not DANIEL. I disguised my gender to fight here in the war." They all looked at her disbelievingly. _Am I that bad of a lier?_

"The truth, please, soldier" The Colonel said seriously. _What the hell, I'm screwed any way._

"I am from another world, almost identical to this one, where it is the year 2016. I was sent here to make sure that events happen the way they are supposed to so that people don't die, and to save a few extra lives along the way." Steve shook his head.

"Why won't you tell us, Danny? Are we supposed to believe that? Why wont-" Dani cut him off.

"I have technology to prove it. If you have somebody bring my bag here to show you. Listen, I have been given insight on what happens and what will happen, I can tell you what has been going on in your life to prove it." Steve shook his head again, but she continued-

"Doctor Erskine got you into project rebirth, the Colonel threw a dead grenade that you threw yourself on top of, right before the experiment you made a joke "is it too late to go to the bathroom", you drew a monkey on a unicycle yesterday, and I know the conversation in the plane as Agent Carter and Mr. Stark dropped you off by the factory because I have seen-" Steve cut her off, his face white.

"Ok ok ok ok stop, please. Please. How... how did you..." Dani butted back in.

"I told you. You wanted the truth. There is alot more to my story but that is the basics." The Colonel looked conflicted and quite confused. He waved a man in.

"Soldier, lock Corporal White up until we figure out what's going on here please" he said, sounding highly annoyed.

"Wait, I'm telling the truth!" She yelled ash she was dragged away. She cursed internally. _What did I do to deserve this..._


	8. Chapter 8

**Ok guys, this is more of a bridging chapter, next chapter Cap gets iced. Also I will open a poll to see who, if any, Dani will be paired with. Enjoy!**

 **-Stax**

Chapter 8

The soldier dragged Dani into a tent and made her sit on a cot. Realizing there was no escaping at this point, she sat quietly as he handcuffed her to one of the cot's legs. After he left, she laid back and focused on a tear in the roof.

 _Well... maybe the sphere will take me home now_ she thought. Her mind returned to the two men she called her friends. She felt a twinge of guilt at the thought of what they were going to go through soon. Well, she couldn't TELL them what was going to happen, and she couldn't personally keep them safe because she would probably be back in the US being court marshalled.

 _Maybe if I run away, I can secretly follow along and maybe even save Bucky,_ she considered. _Doesn't deserting have the death penalty though...?_ She shook her head. _They are your friends even if they are pissed now, if you can help them then you HAVE to._ She sat up and looked at her handcuffs. There was no way she could pick the lock or break them, that much was certain.

 _I'll drag this whole bed with me if I have to._ She started jerking on the cuffs in desperation. Something shifted. Leaning over, she saw that the bar that made up the top two legs was loose. With her knee, she held up the cot and pulled down on the leg.

To her great excitement, the leg came off! She pulled the other end of the cuff off and put the leg back in its slot. _Yes! Now I just have to sneak out..._ she started tiptoeing towards the tent flap- and found that her feet couldnt move. She swore to herself. It was exactly like when she was at Steve's mom's funeral! No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't lift her feet to move forward.

Dani turned around and attempted to move back to the cot. Of course, THAT worked. She tried to move to the tent entrance again and couldn't move her feet. She flopped on the bed in frustration. _I guess I have to wait here then..._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back at the Colonel's tent, He, Steve and Bucky were examining the phone from her bag.

"I don't know how to start it, she only showed it to me for a minute" Bucky told them as the three looked down at the black screen. Steve picked it up.

"There isn't a wheel to dial with, how is this a telephone?" He asked. Bucky shrugged. Steve turned it in his hand. "Where do you talk into? How does the sound go from here to a phone!?" Again, nobody had answers. Just then Howard Stark sauntered in.

"You called?" He asked, looking at the Colonel, who nodded. He quickly explained to Howard Dani's claims, about her being from the future and how she had stated that the proof was on this phone. Howard took the device from Steve. "How does it work?" He inquired.

"See, that is what we were hoping YOU could tell us" Col. Phillips said. Howard pushed the button on the side and the screen lit up.

"Like that, I would imagine."

The Colonel grabbed the phone back and put it on his desk. Howard pulled a chair over and the four looked at it expectantly.

"It has today's date there, I wouldn't call that proof" Steve pointed out, gesturing at the numbers. The screen went dark.

"What did you do?" Bucky asked, surprised. Steve lifted his hand off the desk, panicked look in his eyes.

"I didn't touch it! What happened?" Howard shook his head.

"I believe it has a timer. Something this size, the power source must be very small. It probably turns off to conserve energy." He reached over and pressed the on button again.

"So if it's a phone, how do you make calls on it?" The Colonel inquired. Howard pulled it towards him and tapped at the screen.

"Lets find out." After several seconds he figured out how to unlock by swiping. All looked at the screen.

"What do those squares do?" Bucky asked, tapping one and inadvertently opening the browser. All leaned foreward; twitter was open.

"These... these are dated in the future..." Steve said.

"She could have just put the fake date on them, Captain" the Colonel said. Steve picked the phone and handed it to him.

"There is one way to find out if this is really a phone. Call someone with it. If it works, we know she is from the future because we don't have machines like this" he stated. The colonel gave him a look and started tapping buttons until it returned to the main screen. He leaned over to Howard and asked,

"How would you make a call on-" Howard grabbed it from him and systematically went through each app to find the phone. He came to the phone app and showed the Colonel.

"See, you probably press these numbers to enter the number" he explained, typing in a number as he spoke. "I have a rich lady friend back in the states who has a personal phone, if this call goes across the atlantic to her phone then we will have no doubt" he noted, pushing the green button labled "call".

The phone rang. They waited silently. Three rings, four rings... then a voice came through the speaker.

"Hello?"

"Molly?" Howard asked incredulously, holding the phone in front of his face.

"Howard you had better be calling to apologize" the voice said angrily. Howard quickly tapped the "end call" button and put the phone down like it had burned him.

"My God, it works" he said, face white.

"What?" Steve stood up.

"Its real. Can I...?" He looked at the Colonel, pulling the phone towards himself. "I would like to examine the technology..." Col. Phillips nodded.

"But, nobody hears about this. Anybody leaks word about this, I'll throw your asses in some out-of-the-way hole until you can't remember what daylight looks like, understand?" He said, looking at them. Everyone nodded.

"Yeah, sure" Howard said, rushing out with his prize. Steve turned to leave. Bucky got up to follow him.

"Steve what are you gonna do?" He asked.

"I'm going to ask her about the future" he said. Bucky danced in front of him, stopping him from moving forward.

"No! Steve, people can die if we know the future! It can change things!" He said, looking panicked. He glanced around quickly, ensuring that nobody else was within hearing range. "We win the war" he whispered. "That can change if we know the details of the future" he tried to impress upon Steve the gravity of the matter. Steve looked at him dubiously for a moment before caving.

"Fine. But I still want to talk to her" he said stepping around Bucky and reaching the tent in which Dani was held. Bucky moved to follow but Steve waved him off. "Alone." Bucky frowned but turned and left. As he was walking away, he called over his shoulder,

"Before you do anything, just remember all the times she took a hit for you in the alleys." Steve nodded and turned to enter the tent.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dani heard Steve and Bucky outside her tent, unable to make out what they were saying. She looked down at her wrist. _Maybe I should have re-attached the cuff to the bed_ she thought. I _ts too late now._ She moved to the edge of the bed and sat, waiting for them to enter. Her stomach flip-flopped as the tent flap was pushed aside and Steve entered. Wordlessly he sat on a wooden chair opposite the bed and made eye contact. Dani searched for any anger but only found a tiny bit of sadness.

"Steve..." she started. He held up his hand and shook his head.

"You could have told me. I trusted you, you couldn't trust me back?"

"I trusted that you would pick my safety over letting me do what had to be done" she said with a grimace. Steve looked more than a bit upset.

"All those years you helped me fight and you were a girl. You could have gotten hurt! You don't belong here, none of this is safe." Dani made a face. He was a product of his times, she couldn't expect him to feel comfortable with this new revelation. "What if you had been killed?" He continued.

"I don't have a choice, Steve" she said quietly with her head down. He stood up.

"Yes, you DO have a choice, Dani, you could have worked at a factory back at home! You could have become a nurse! You could have done ANYTHING BUT BE ON THE FRONT LINE!" He was practically yelling.

"No, no I DON'T have a choice. I have NO choice. I get jerked around from place to place, I have no control over where I am, I miss huge chunks of time- damn it Steve, for me it hasn't even been a year that I've known you and Bucky" she said frustratedly. Steve sat down hard with his mouth open.

"What do you mean it hasn't been a year?"

"Like I said, I get pulled around through time to where I am needed. Those times I wasn't around for weeks at a time? It was because I was pulled foreward to the next time you saw me. I was eighteen when you first met me and I have..." she counted on her fingers- "half a month until I am nineteen. I didn't look older because I WASN'T getting older. I wasn't going to get in the army either, I was pulled here with a uniform and enlistment papers all ready." Steve sat in his chair in a stupor for a few moments. "Steve?" He shook his head.

"This all sounds too incredible to be true... but it IS true, isn't it" he inquired, looking in her eyes. She nodded. Both turned towards the tent flap as the Colonel walked in suddenly.

"Corporal... we've decided not to court marshal you due to the fact that you DID save several operations and have not done anything illegal aside from lying about your gender" he stated. Dani pumped a fist. "...However, since we still are not willing to allow a woman in the army, we are giving you an honorable discharge." She lowerd her fist disappointedly. "We are shipping you back to the States tomorrow" he added before leaving. Steve nodded with a satisfied look on his face.

"Good, you can go home now." He said. Dani facepalmed.

"Steve, it's not that easy. I will be pulled back here before the week is over, mark my words." Steve got up.

"Then we will send you back again" he said with finality. "You can come with me to say goodbye to everyone, since you already took care of your handcuffs" he said. Dani shrugged and followed him out. _I'll find a way..._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After showing Peggy and the Colonel the location of the different Hydra bases and agreeing to lead a strike team to take them all down, Steve headed to the bar where the soldiers were with Dani in tow. He quickly convinced the men to come with him- but they all insisted on bringing Dani along with them.

"She saved all of our asses" Dum Dum said before downing the rest of his beer. "Several times. I'm not going into battle without her to shoot out people's kneecaps at the last second, even if she IS a girl" he insisted. Dani blushed. She hadnt realized they had noticed her method of attack. The other men agreed quickly. Steve sighed.

"You won't reconsider...?" He asked. Everyone shook there heads. "Fine, I'll talk to Phillips." His expression said "I'm gonna regret this." Gabe leaned over to her.

"Say... now that we know you're a woman, suppose you sang a bit...?" She gave him an incredulous look. "Come on, just one little song? Maybe a bit on the piano?" They were all looking at her expectantly.

"I play the guitar, I haven't played the piano since I was twelve" she said, grimacing.

"Its agreed then, you will sing" Bucky said, standing up and steering her next to the piano. She shot him a stinkeye to end all stinkeyes.

"Fine... I remember the piano piece to ONE song. Move over, punk" she said to the scruffy man occupying the piano bench. She cleared her throat and began singing "She's Got a Way" by Billy Joel. She new she wasn't great but the place fell half silent, due to the fact that nobody knew the song. She saw out of the corner of her eye that Peggy had come in and was talking to Steve. She shipped it. She sang loudly in their direction.

"SHE'S GOT A WAY OF TALKIN'...

I DON'T KNOW WHY IT IS,

BUT IT LIFTS ME UP WHEN WE ARE WALKIN'... ANYWHEEEERE"

Steve shot her a dirty look and Bucky stifled a laugh. After she finished that number and she, Bucky and Steve were heading to their tents, he asked her,

"What was that?"

"What? I ship it!"

"You... ship it...?" Bucky interjected.

"I like them as a couple" Dani explained.

"I... we arent..." Steve sputtered. Bucky grinned.

"Yeah, I ship it too" he said. Steve glared at both of them.

"Whatever. Dani, you have to come in tomorrow with me to convince the Corporal to let you come." He grumped.

"I'll be there" she promised. _I'm going to save Bucky yet._


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi guys!**

 **Happy (early) Easter, for those of you who celebrate that. The rest of you, happy (almost) weekend :). The poll for "who to ship Dani with" is UP. It is on my profile. If you don't have a fanfiction account, you can use a comment to make a vote (yes, you can comment without an account. I wish I had known that about a year ago.) If you don't see someone that you want her paired with, I count comments and private messages as a vote.**

 **Additionally, I know this chapter is just a tiiiiiiiiny bit early (like, half a week early) but I realized that I would be busy this Thursday/Friday/Saturday/Sunday and might forget to upload this. So, here it is. To make up for the wonky timing, I will post a chapter on Tuesday. After that, back to Sundays again. Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

 **-Stax**

 **Disclaimer: I only own my OC, everything else is Marvel's**

Chapter 9

The next morning, Dani and Steve headed to the Colonel's tent to see about having her join Steve's team. They were surprised when he met them at the door and pulled them in. He gestured for them to sit down. Dani was slightly concerned; he had an unreadable expression on his face and sweat dripping down his forehead.

"You-" he said, pointing at her. "You need to to help the Captain on his campaign. Your friend visited me and showed me what happens if you don't." Dani leaned foreward in shock.

"The sphere? It was here!?"

"Yes. You need to go see Stark for your gear now." Steve looked confusedly between the two.

"What?" He asked, furrowing his brow. Dani stood up and grabbed his hand to pull him with her.

"I'll explain later, lets go" she said, slightly worried that the sphere had bothered to show up. _It must be important that I go, then..._ She dragged Steve out of the tent and in the direction of the bunker Howard was in.

Dani facepalmed as Steve was pulled into a kiss by the obnoxious blonde woman.

"Steve, you're gonna want to-"

"CAPTAIN!" She was cut off. Steve pulled his lips away and gasped in shock. Peggy had seen, and she was pissed. "Mr. Stark will see you now" she said, her voice laced with venom. Steve hurried after her, followed by a slightly amused Dani.

"Peggy it's not what you think-"

"I don't think ANYTHING, Captain. It seems that finding the right partner wasn't so hard after all."

"Well what about you and Stark? How do I know you two aren't... fondueing?" Dani couldn't help but laugh at that. Steve glanced at her, slightly shocked.

"You still don't know a thing about women, do you" Peggy snarked. Howard came up behind him. Dani tuned out as he explained fondue to Steve and showed him the shield options. She noticed two silver gauntlets that could fit her wrists quite well, that would stretch from her wrist up to four inches short of her elbow.

 _I could use these,_ she thought. She remembered several times when she was in battle and time had slowed down as a bullet whistled towards her. She had ruined several guns blocking those- she winced as the remembered the bullet wound on her stomach. While bullet wounds healed surprisingly well in this universe, she would like to avoid similar injuries in the future. Something like these would really come in handy.

"Peggy, what do you think?" Steve asked from behind her.

"Bang bang" Dani said without turning around. Immediately, gunshots echoed through the bunker. A bullet flopped past her ear, all its foreward momentum sapped by the vibranium shield. Steve made a squeak that she could only hear because she was next to him.

"It will do" Peggy said composedly and walked away.

"Howard, what are these?" She asked, pointing at the gauntlets.

"Those? Those are gauntlets to deflect bullets and bayonets, they're made of adamantium and a tiny bit of vibranium" he said. "But they don't really work, nobody can move fast enough to deflect bullets with them." Dani nodded.

"So you're saying you don't NEED them" she inquired.

"Nope. What, you want them?" Dani just grinned in his general direction, causing him to shrug. "They're yours, have fun" he stated. She slipped them on and they fit surprisingly well. Now just to test them... maybe Peggy would shoot at her if she pissed her off enough.

 _QUITE A BIT OF TIME LATER-_

"Oomph!"

Dani was beginning to enjoy the sound Nazis made when you punched them in the stomach. She idly wondered if that made her a bad person. It was a surprisingly effective stress reliever, however.

"Bwuff!" She followed up the punch on that one by smacking him on the back of the head with her gun. For the life of her, she couldn't figure out how to save Steve and Bucky. Steve HAD to make it to the future or thousands would die, and Bucky HAD to be the Winter Soldier so that Steve would find Hydra in SHIELD and stop project Insight. Every time she even considered altering either of those events, she was flooded with images of people who would die.

"Aaauuugh!" Oops, she had crushed that one's nose... she hit him on the back of the head to knock him out as well. While the blood still disturbed her, she was grateful she had some way to take out her stress on something. _There HAS to be a way_. She blocked a bullet as it wizzed dangerously close. Steve took out the one who had fired the shot, and Dani realized that the whole platoon was down. She sighed. Bucky was going to fall down the chasm in a few short days and she REALLY NEEDED MORE NAZIS TO PUNCH-

"You ok?" Dani turned to see Bucky looking at her concernedly. She realized she had her face scrunched up from thinking.

"Yeah, its easier to administer the beat down when you have a badass expression on your face" she said, breaking into a fake smile. She was grateful to have "I was punching Nazis" as an excuse for the sweat trickling down her face. It was, in actuality, from guilt. Here she was, looking into his face, and practically lying to him. He always knew when she was hiding something, he would figure out eventually.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was taking all of Dani's concentration not to cry. It was the night before Bucky would fall off the train, and the howling commandos were camped on an icy cliff. Steve had fallen asleep with his compass in hand, the one with Peggy's picture inside. He had no clue the heartache he was about to go through. Bucky wasn't asleep. He was staring at the tent above him, obviously lost in thought. Steve and Bucky had made her sleep between them so she wouldn't freeze, which meant any wimper she made would instantly be heard by them.

"So you wanna tell me what's going on?" Was whispered into her left ear. Dani snapped her head to look at Bucky, who had a serious look on his face. "Don't lie, I know something bad is going to happen." She nodded. "Is there anything you can do about it?"

"Not that I can see yet. Don't worry, I WILL find a way." Bucky squinted his eyes doubtfully. "Really, I will. Please don't ask." He rolled his head back so he was looking at the tent roof again. "And... whatever happens tomorrow, I want to say in advance that I am sorry." He closed his eyes and sighed.

"If it's not your fault, then it's not your fault. Whatever it is, I know you will do what you can. Try to get some sleep." She nodded and closed her eyes, knowing she wouldn't get any rest from the icy butterflies in her stomach.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The sunlight streaming in through the open tent flap, along with the cold air, woke Dani up in an unpleasant way. For a moment she was able to enjoy the warmth under her blanket, the sun, being alive-

And then she remembered what today was.

Scrambling outside after throwing her boots on, she saw the Howling Commandos already setting up by the side of the cliff. Her phone said it was almost ten thirty...

"Why didn't you guys wake me up?" She asked, stomping over to them angrily.

"We didn't need to. Besides, you seemed stressed" Steve said, giving her a sideways glance. Crap, he's on to me too, isn't he. Bucky was by the edge of the cliff, shooting some manner of giant grappling gun across the chasm. After the line anchored itself in the rock face, he attached the other end to the wall of stone behind them.

"The train is coming in about twenty minutes" Gabe noted. Dani felt her heart drop into her stomach. I'm out of time...

She started thinking desperately, trying to dream up some way, any way, that she could save Bucky from his fate. Vision after vision flashed before her face, causing her to become dizzy. Her sight began to go fuzzy and black around the edges, and she could distantly hear concerned voices. She felt a pressure on her arm and waist, supporting her. She kept going. Then, suddenly, it hit her.

The solution was so easy, so simple. The real world came flooding back and she laughed. She realized she was sitting in the snow. She looked up and saw Steve and Bucky's concerned faces.

"What the hell was that" Bucky asked. The two men knew what it looked like when she viewed future possibilities, but they had never seen her react so violently or for so long.

"I know what to do" she said, smiling up into Bucky's face. Bucky relaxed visibly. Steve was clearly confused.

"Dani, maybe you should stay on the cliff-" he began. She grabbed his shirt and pulled his face close to hers.

"No. I am coming. I HAVE to come. Understand?" Steve, surprised, just nodded. She released his shirt and flopped to the tent to gear up.

Shortly, the train was heard coming. Steve prepared to slide down. Dani gave Bucky a comforting pat on the back, knowing he didn't like heights...

"Remember that time I made you ride the 'coaster at Coney Island and you puked?" Bucky asked Steve.

"Yeah?"

"Is this payback for that?"

"Now, why would I do a thing like that" Steve joked. Dani snorted. She remembered that day well. A shiver ran down her spine at the thought of what she was going to have to do shortly. What wouldn't she give to go back to that lovely day.

Suddenly, the visions began flashing again. The train was going to slow down as it came around the bend! Steve would fall IN FRONT OF THE TRAIN!

"STEVE WAIT!" She yelled, grabbing his belt.

"WHAT? DANI I NEED TO MOVE!"

"NO LOOK!" Sure enough, the train was slowing down. She pushed him forward. "Ok, NOW go" she said, puting her hook on the line as he pushed off. For a moment her feet were dangling free, in a complete rush of adrenaline. Then she was lined up with the train and for one terrifying split second she was free falling. Then her feet touched the roof. She felt a tear run down her cheek, from the wind or from the fear of what was coming, she didn't know which. Steve ripped the door off off the side of the train and they swung inside.

Time felt like it was moving at a snails pace. It wasn't the artificial slowness that came at crucial moments, it was fear. She felt numb as she shot at the Hydra agents, as she and Bucky got locked in the compartment with the gunman, as Steve busted the door and threw Bucky the gun-

It was time.

Dani shoved Bucky to the opposite side of the train, the side by the cliff wall. As Cap's shield bounced towards her, she picked it up. The bolt of blue energy streaked towards her and she closed her eyes. The impact was terrible, but worse was the cold rush of air that sucked her out of the train. Her hand met a metal bar and she grabbed it instinctively. She opened her eyes to see Steve and Bucky kill the agent and turn to her.

She was out of reach but that was necessary. A tear ran down her cheek. They were trying to grab her hand but she wasn't moving towards them- her light weight was letting the bar stay in place, she could at least tell them what was happening-

"SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME FOR A SECOND!" She yelled in their direction. They froze. "I'M SORRY. I REALLY AM. BUCKY WAS SUPPOSED TO FALL DOWN THE CHASM. I COULDN'T LET HIM, BUT EITHER HE OR I HAVE TO FALL DOWN. IF I DON'T, THEN SO MANY PEOPLE ARE GONNA DIE. I... BUCKY NO!" She yelled as Bucky got far enough to grab her hand. He was pulling her back to the train! "BUCKY STOP!"

Just then, the train hit a bump. Her mouth flew open to scream in horror as Bucky lost his footing and fell out of her reach. She couldn't tear her eyes away as he fell into the white void. She kept screaming his name hysterically. She felt a hand on her arm again as Steve pulled her back into the train. He had a completely shocked expression spread across his face as he stared where Bucky had been moments before. His grip on her arm was painful, he wasn't aware of his surroundings at the moment. Dani couldn't stop sobbing. _I screwed up, I screwed up so bad. Bucky, Bucky, I'm so sorry I'm so sorry..._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You could have told me."

"People would have died, Steve."

"I could have gone. I could have fallen instead."

"Hydra would have won then. You have no idea."

"It didn't have to be one of you two."

"What should I have done, thrown the Colonel down there? I went with the best option."

"Then you didn't look at all the options."

"I've been trying to find a better way for months."

"What if you both had fallen down there? What then?"

"Then I would have screwed up worse than I already did."

"Dani, don't ever die."

"I don't plan on dying soon, don't worry."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Johann Schmidt belongs in a bug house. He thinks he's a God. He's willing to blow half the world to prove it, starting with the U.S.A." Col. Phillips stated. Howard spoke up.

"Schmidt's working with powers beyond our capabilities. He gets across the Atlantic, he will wipe out the entire eastern sea board in an hour."

"How much time we got?" Gabe asked uneasily.

"According to my new best friend, twenty four hours." The Colonel informed them. "Hydra's last base is here." He gestured to a picture he had in his hands. "In the Alps. Five hundred feet below the surface."

"So, what are we supposed to do. I mean, it's not like we can just knock on the front door." Jim asked, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. Dani looked over at Steve. He had a hardened look in his eyes.

"Why not? That's exactly what we're gonna do." Steve said. Dani stood up and slammed her hand on the table.

"Then what are we waiting for? Lets GO!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 _What's going to happen next_ , Dani wondered. Down the futuristic hall she ran, right behind Steve. Schmidt was not far ahead. _Am I going do die in the ice? I bet I die in the ice_ she thought. _Maybe it's for the best, there isn't much else I can do. It's too bad, I wanted to meet Spider-Man and The Hulk too..._ she was pulled out of her thoughts as she and Steve ran into a room full of Hydra Agents.

"Crap?" She stated, more of a question then anything.

"Crap" Steve confirmed.

They dodged the bullets, running after the Valkyrie. It pulled away surprisingly quickly for a plane of its size. The Colonel pulled up beside them with Peggy in the passenger seat.

"GET IN!"

The two complied and shortly they were under the plane. Dani fought a tear as Peggy kissed Steve.

"Go on, I'm not kissing you" the Colonel broke them out of their stupor. Steve easily jumped onto the rising plane wheels. Dani almost missed them entirely but he grabbed her wrist and hauled her up. She gave him a sad smile. It would all be over soon, but he didn't need to know that. She couldn't find a way to save him. She couldn't even take his place. _At this point, I suppose all I can do is be there for him_ she thought. Then, the wheel was up in the plane. Steve began taking out the Hydra agents, and Dani managed to shoot the knees of two.

She turned around and realized that Steve was out of the plane on the tiny bomber, fighting for control with an agent. Visions flew through her head again- the back door of the plane needed to be opened so he could fly in or the bomber would explode on impact. She began scrambling with the various buttons until, with a gust of cold air and some alarms beeping, it opened. Right on cue, the mini plane flew in with Steve in the cockpit. Dani had to drag herself away from the hole, which was sucking air out at an alarming rate.

"You ok!" Steve yelled over the wind, grabbing her shoulders.

"I'm not dead yet!" She joked. His face was grim.

"Keep it that way!" He hollered. He grabbed his shield from where it had lodged and they headed towards the front of the plane. Dani hung back as Steve snuck in. When she heard Schmidt talking, she just walked in and shot the back of both his knees.

"Save the monologue for somebody who cares" she said with a dead look in her eyes. _This guy is the reason Bucky is dead_ she reminded herself. Surprisingly, Schmidt was still standing. Just barely, but he was standing. She ran forward and tried to wrestle with him for the energy cannon he had, causing him to shoot a decent sized hole in the ground. She lost her grip in surprise, giving him time to knock her over the head with the weapon. As she fell over, she heard Steve yell. She turned to see them scuffling- knocking the tesseract over. Schmidt picked it up. Dani turned her head away at the gruesome sight of him dissolving into the fissure above his head. Yet another aspect that the movie didn't do justice to the gruesomeness of. Then, Steve was pulling her to the front. She couldn't barely hear him over the buzzing in her ears.

He began talking to Peggy through the radio. Dani suddenly felt time slow down in a familiar way and felt a presence to one side. She turned to look.

Of course, it was the sphere.

" _You need to jump off_ " it said in her mind. She made a face at it.

" _The Captain will not crash this plane while you are on it. If he does not, then it will blow up when it lands. So many deaths_." The images of all the people who would die began flashing before her eyes.

"I didn't need the visual" she slurred through her fogged thoughts.

" _Time has run out. You need to jump NOW. I have depleted my energy and for now I must go_ " The sphere insisted, as it faded from sight. Dani slumped in her seat and let out the longest of sighs.

"Steve."

"Peggy it has explosives, you need to find a large place for us to land."

"Steve."

"And I think the fuel tank is leaking, it has to be by the coast."

"STEVE."

"Dani now isn't-"

"Steve, you have to crash the plane."

"What!? No!"

"Lots of people are gonna die. Thousands. I've been here-" She pulled out her phone- "Exactly two years, one month and ten days. My time here is done now." She re-pocketed the phone.

"Dani, I can't crash this plane as long as you're on board. I can't have you die too."

"Steve... I know. I'm sorry." She pulled herself out of the chair and ran to the hole that Schmidt had blown in the floor when they were wrestling for the gun. Time slowed down. Steve called her name, panickedly, his voice unusually deep due to the rate time was going. She moved at just the right time for him to miss her arm as he grabbed for it. Feeling like she was running through syrup, she dashed as quickly as possible towards the hole. She heard Steve's heavy, slow-motion steps behind her. A grim smile flitted across her face. Steve was stronger but she was faster.

And then, there was the hole.

She jumped at exactly the correct time to smoothly slip through the gaping opening into the void.

Steve's fingers brushed across her back in one last desperate attempt to stop her.

Then, there was nothing but air.

Cold, violent air.

 _Steve, I'm so sorry._

She turned as she was falling. She didn't want to see the fast-approaching ice.

Just for a brief moment, her blue eyes met Steve's equally blue ones.

 _I didn't want to leave you alone._

She saw him mouth her name but the wind rushed away the sound.

Then the plane was no longer above her and time was back to normal.

 _Please forgive me..._

With a sickening crunch, backbone met ice and she was enveloped in a penetrating coldness. Then darkenss.. then she felt no more.

 **It's not the end of the story, we've only just begun. Don't forget to vote on my profile. I'll see you guys on Tuesday.**


	10. Chapter 10

**As promised, here is the update on Tuesday :) it's a bit longer than my other chapters but I would bet you guys don't mind. As you will find out momentarily, Dani meets someone new today. Just FYI, she won't be there long in THIS story because it will mostly be fluff. Which brings me to my announcement:**

 **I have an "outtakes" story to accompany this one. I can write chapters and chapters of extensive fluff and this story will go no where. So, the side story contains all the fluff. If you like that kind of thing, then you can find the story on my profile. If not, there are no important parts in there, you can just stick to this. But, alot of the areas where I didn't write about in this story will be written about in there. I hope you guys like it.**

 **Also, please vote for who I should pair Dani with if you haven't already. For those of you who left a comment on who she should be paired with, I will add those votes after I close the poll (which is on my profile). At the moment, Steve and Bucky are tied for first place.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **-Stax**

Chapter 10

Everything was cold. Bone chillingly cold. Dani didn't want to open her eyes, she just wanted to fall asleep again. Maybe then she wouldn't be cold.

She heard a child crying in the distance. She groaned. _I have to open my eyes now, don't I?_ It took all her effort to push her heavy lids open, but as she did, the cold rushed away. She shook herself. _What is this place...?_

She was standing in a very ornate foyer, in some kind of mansion. The crying, which was getting louder, was up the stairs. Groggily she walked up them, gaining more of her awareness back with every step. She padded down the thick carpet until she found the room that the crying was coming from. Nobody was around. _This is so creepy its not even funny_ she thought as she reached for the doorknob-

And her hand went through it.

She shrieked in shock, and the crying on the other side of the door stopped momentarily. She fought the urge to hyperventilate. Slowly, she reached for the knob again. As her hand went through, it felt cold. Just the part that was inside of the brass was cold.

She stepped back. _Did I die?_ She wondered as the memory of the ice returned to her half-conscious brain. _Is this... heaven? Oh no, what if it's hell!?_ She panicked. _...Calm down, there would be HUNDREDS of crying kids to torment me if this was hell_ she reasoned. _Am I... a ghost? That would work. But it wouldn't explain why I am HERE_.

She stepped towards the door. The crying had resumed, and she figured that whomever was there might be able to give her some idea what the hell was going on. She put her hand up to the door- it stood to reason that if the knob let her through, so would the door. Sure enough, as she stepped forward she passed through the door. An awful chill went over her body as the wood passed over her molecules, but she didn't have time to process that.

There was a child on the other side, on the floor, surrounded by crayons and coloring books and bits of metal. He saw Dani and began screamimg at the top of his lungs.

"No, no, no, its ok, I'm friendly! I swear!" She said, putting her hands up in what she hoped was a harmless-looking manner. The kid shut his mouth but still looked terrified.

"Who are you!?"

"I'm... your conscience" she said weakly. An even more panicked look crossed the boy's round features and Dani facepalmed. _Way to go, Dani. "Your conscience." You have the BEST ideas._ As the child opened his mouth again to wail, Dani interjected. "No, no, no, I'm not your conscience. I was joking! I'm... your imaginary friend! You were sad so your mind made a pretend friend!" Dani was able to relax as the boy seemed pleased with this answer. He looked at her scrutinizingly.

"Why do yah look like Corporal White then?" He asked. _How does he know about me...?_ She noticed a picture on his desk- it was of her, Howard, Steve and Bucky. She remembered the day they took that. "That picture. You see me all the time. Brains are funny, it just picked a random person." The kid looked at her dubiously.

"Then why didn't I get Captain America? Or at least somebody prettier?" Dani snorted.

"Your brain not mine, kid. I dunno." She looked down at what he was doing. "Are you... building a mechanical version of that duck?" She asked. There was a pile of metal that looked quite like the image of a duck that was in the open coloring book. Smiling proudly, the kid held it up.

"Yup! It can walk too!" He said.

"You... made this?" She asked. The child couldn't be more than five or six years old, but the duck was incredibly well made.

"Yep!"

"That's amazing!" He smiled proudly. Something clicked in Dani's head. "Kid... what's your name?" His smile scrunched into a face of disgust.

"You're my imaginary friend, you know my name" he sassed.

"...Tony Stark...?"

"Oooh! I like 'Tony'. Mommy and Daddy and all my nannys call me Anthony. CALL ME TONY NOW!" He said, standing up exitedly.

"Well then, nice to meet you, Tony" she said with a grin. "You can call me Dani."

"Yah, your first name is Danielle right?" She nodded. "WE BOTH HAVE AWESOME NICKNAMES NOW!" He violently threw the purple crayon at the wall.

"Woah, calm down" Dani chastised him.

"Hey-"

"What?"

"If you can go through doors then I CAN GO THROUGH YOU RIGHT?"

"I don't-" Dani began, but the hiper boy wasn't listening. He football charged towards her and she didn't process that in time to step out of the way. She was knocked over to the ground, completely unable to resist his momentum. "Ouch."

"Oops! Sorry!" He said.

"Tony- here, grab my hand" she said, standing up and holding her arm out. "Now pull on it." Sure enough, she couldn't resist the pull. _I should be stronger than him... its like I dont exist._ She pulled again and her hand went through his. _Interesting_...

"THAT IS THE COOLEST THING EVER" Tony raved. "YOU'RE LIKE A GHOST! LETS GO SHOW DADDY!" He ran out the door, followed by a slightly dazed Dani. _This is so surreal..._ Down two flights of stairs and three hallways, they came to a workshop where Howard was hunched over a chunk of wires and circuits. "DADDY!" Dani was surprised that she didn't need to catch her breath. Tony was gasping for air as he enthusiastically tried to get his dad's attention. "DADDY LOOK AT MY NEW FRIEND!" That got him to look up. He had bags under his eyes and a foggy expression on his face but it was definitely Howard. "Its Corporal White!"

"Anthony what are you talking about?"

"My new best friend!" He said happily, pointing at Dani. Howard shook his head.

"You have an imaginary friend?"

"Yup!"

"Anthony I don't have time for this-"

"CALL ME TONY NOW!" Dani stepped in front of Howard and waved her hand. "SEE? SEE, SHE'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!" _He really can't see me?_ "SHE'S TOUCHING YOU!" Her hand went through him, just like it had with the door. Howard shivered a bit and leaned slightly away from her.

"Anthony-"

"TONY! T-O-N-Y!"

" ...'Tony'... why don't you go show... your mother? Or Beatrice? Beatrice is nice!" Tony got red in the face and clenched his tiny fist.

"Mommy doesn't like me and Beatrice went to the bar."

"Did she now? Well, I guess we're firing her too, you'll have a new nanny as soon as I find one." Almost as an afterthought, he added "and mommy doesn't hate you." Tony looked even more frustrated.

"I heard her say it to you when you though I was in bed." Howard froze. Dani stepped over to Tony.

"Tony, I'm your friend now. You... wanna go finish the duck? We could paint it yellow after." Tony looked at her.

"Yellow AND red. Those are my favorite colors" he insisted. Dani nodded. She could see Howard visibly relax in her peripheral vision. As Tony left the room ahead of her, she turned around and flipped Howard off. "What does that mean" came from behind her. She spun around to him trying to form the shape with both his hands.

"Uh... Tony, don't do that. It's not good." He opened his mouth to protest but she started walking out of the room. "LAST ONE TO GET TO THE DUCK IS A ROTTEN EGG!" She yelled, and Tony ran after her as fast as his short legs would carry him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dani sighed as she sat on the plush chair by Tony's bed. Convincing him to put on pyjamas was not unlike hostage situation negotiations. She had to promise him all the fun stuff that they would do tomorrow. But now he was asleep and she had nothing to do. She couldn't turn on the radio, read a book, or even color in the coloring book because she couldnt move anything.

She got up and moved to the picture on his dresser. For her, that image had been taken less than a year ago. For Howard it had been more like fifteen. She smirked at the composition of the photo; Bucky and Steve were on either side of her, arms draped over her shoulders. She had her arms around their waists. And then Howard was just kind of standing there next to Steve. He still looked happy, though. She remembered how much of a fan Howard was of Steve. She would bet that Tony heard alot about that from him.

 _Am I really that short_ she wondered, noting that she came up just past her friends' armpits. _Yes, I'm HORRIBLY short. Or they are horribly tall. Maybe I was slouching..._

Dani tried to pick up the image to hold it to her chest. Of course her hands went through and hit the wall behind the picture. She slammed her head on the dresser. She dragged herself over to the plush armchair and settled in with the intent to fall asleep. It was several hours before rest gave her a break from her guilty mind.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Holy shit, Tony, you broke ALL OF THEM?"

Tony was standing in the middle of a kitchen full of broken glass.

"Holy shit, Dani, I wanted to see how high I could stack them" Tony said, furrowing his tiny brow. Dani shook her head.

"How many times do I have to tell you, don't say the swear words you learn from me."

"Holy shit."

"More like 'little shit'." Dani started to walk towards him. "Stay where you are, I'm going to find a clear path for you-" Tony climbed up on the counter top and walked along that to get away from the heap of glass. "Or do that...WOAH DONT TRIP!" She said, instinctively dodging forward to catch him. The seven year old caught his balance and gave her a cheeky grin. "You are gonna be the death of me, you know that?" She looked around at the mess. "I didn't know your family even had this many cups and glasses."

"There were some plates and bowls in there too" Tony called over his shoulder as he was leaving the room. Dani facepalmed several times.

Tony was a handful, to say the least. She couldn't physically move him out of harm's way, so she had spent the week she had known him doing nothing but warning him when he was in harm's way and having mini heart attacks. She wasn't there all day, every day. Quite like when she was with young Steve and Bucky, she skipped hours at a time. But unlike then, her time jumping was over short periods of time. When his private tutor was here, when he was sleeping, when he was deeply occupied in a project- she time jumped. She saw him almost every day but only for about a fourth of the day total.

That was more than enough time for him to stress her poor heart out.

A loud crash sounded from the next room.

"What!? You just got done making a mess, what is it this time!?" She yelled, dashing to ensure his safety. He was standing next to the overturned bookshelf with puppy dog eyes. He knew as long as he was safe, she wouldn't be mad at him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tony had been asleep for a while now. Dani was still here.

It wasn't like she needed sleep. She didn't have a body that tired anymore. Sometimes, she wondered if she was dead. Or, if she really was his imaginary friend. _Maybe imaginary friends don't know they are imaginary friends. Maybe they think they are real. I don't even know anymore..._

Her mind needed rest sometimes, she slept for that reason only. Occasionally she was left while Tony slept, and she could wander around and think. Which was nice and all, but it meant she was going to wind up thinking about Steve and Bucky. Sighing heavily, she set out to wander the mansion.

Once she was out in the hall, she could hear arguing. A man and a woman- probably Howard and his wife. Come to think of it, Dani hadn't seen Maria Stark, Tony's mom, the entire two weeks she had been here. _I really shouldn't eavesdrop... but if I don't find something to distract me I will start crying again._ That settled, she headed downstairs to find the source of the fight.

A slightly secluded sitting room held Howard, and a woman. The woman, whose blonde hair was pulled into a harsh bun, was facing away from the door through which Dani entered. Her high pitched voice filled the small area.

"-Didn't want this, do you know what I gave up for you?" Howard was resting on a red velvet couch, glass of what Dani presumed was alcohol in his hand. He looked slightly upset, but equally bored.

"Dear, you know very well WHOM I gave up for you. I fund all your expensive shopping flings and I don't even expect you to raise our son." He took a large gulp of the reddish liquid. Dani felt uncomfortable, and turned to leave.

"OUR SON? YOU DARE CALL HIM OUR SON? DON'T YOU CALL HIM MY SON, HOWARD. NOT AFTER WHAT YOU DID TO ME." Dani stopped in her tracks. Conflicted feelings taged in her chest, but her ever present sense of curiosity prevailed. She moved further into the room.

"Listen, Maria, I never meant for her to get pregnant. I'm not even seeing her anymore, I'm trying to do right by you-" Dani gasped. Nobody heard, of course.

"You work with that bitch every day, how do I know you still aren't doing things behind my back!?" Feeling like she was in a soap opera, Dani leaned forward. _Who!? WHO!?_

"Because you scared Peggy off the last time you came in to yell at her, she won't even talk to me now. She didn't know I was married, you know?" Dani stuck a fist in her mouth. _Holy crap, they WERE fondueing! ...did she cheat on Steve?_ She did some quick math in her head. _No, it was quite a while after Steve... and I... were iced. Still..._

"I'm not going to pretend he is my son, Howard. If you want him to feel a mother's love then you will send him off to Peggy like I wanted you to do when you brought him home!" Mouth open, Dani backed out of the room. She had heard enough. A tear fell down her cheek at the thought of what Tony was going through. He hadn't asked for this... she decided then and there that she would do her best to mother him. His issues in the future probably stemmed from this crap...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 _Someday I'll bring him to meet his mother_ she mused as she watched him work. The now ten-year-old was looking- and acting- more and more like his father every day. He had Peggy's sass, though. Now, his concentrated gaze was fixed on the family vacuum cleaner. The maid was currently searching for it, but Dani warned him whenever she got close.

"See, if I make it self- propelled and give it a program so it avoids my legos and the edges of Mom's expensive rug, then we can get rid of that nasty maid forever" he reasoned to her as he attempted to screw a sophisticated looking motherboard into the handle. Dani hummed in agreement- footsteps were coming down the hall now, so she leaned through the door to check if it was the surly cleaning woman again. She smiled and stepped back inside.

"Jarvis is coming and he has cookies" she said, flopping onto the floor. Dani had originally had mixed feelings about the new butler. Obviously, Tony liked him enough now to name his AI after him in the future. What creeped her out about the man, however, was the fact that he played along when Tony talked about his "imaginary friend". He always brought extra cookies for her (which Tony would then eat) and nod and listen when Tony recounted their adventures. But that even wasn't what creeped her out.

Tony, like many small children would, insisted that Jarvis interact with her. And to some degree, he did. He would turn IN HER DIRECTION and greet her, even though his eyes wouldn't meet hers. Without fail he would turn where she was. One time she had asked him a question about the cookies and he had answered.

Dani had two theories about this. Either, she REALLY WAS Tony's imaginary friend, and Jarvis was making up fake responses to say to the air. Tony was then imagining a matching question for her to have asked. The thought that this was a possability caused her to shudder. _I can't be imaginary... I have too many memories..._

The other option was that he could see her.

Sometimes when he was in the kitchen alone, she would lean on the counter and talk to him. He never acknowledged her presence, ever. But once, when she mentioned something funny Tony had done, she could have sworn he got the tiniest of smiles on his face.

Either way, he was growing on her. He brought her cookies, for crying out loud.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I'm too old for an imaginary friend" Tony said from his bed. "So why do I keep imagining you here?" Dani, across from him on the tattered couch, shrugged.

"I'm too old to BE an imaginary friend, I'm twenty two. You're fourteen, you aren't too old." Tony gave her a look. "Well, maybe I'm NOT your imaginary friend. Maybe I am... your guardian angel!" The stink eye directed at her intensified.

"That car would have stopped. I would have been fine" he insisted, referring to an incident earlier this week where she had stopped him from walking into oncoming traffic. Her dubious look indicated that she disagreed.

"I got my "visions" with that, you would have died. Trust me on this."

"You're just in my head, you can't know that."

"Like hell I can't, I got the visions that time you almost cut your finger off. The doctor said if you hadn't unscrewed it so quickly they would have had to amputate. Need I remind you that it was me that prompted you to undo the screw instead of stand there trying to shake it off your hand?"

"Stop using the 'potato peeler invention incident' to guilt me into listening to you" he pouted. She shook her head. "Also... how do you know you're twenty two if you actually skip around like you say?" She stood up, pulled out her phone and walked to him. She had discovered the phone in her back pocket one day, and it was as intangible as she was. Conveniently, whenever she dropped it or when it left her hand, it disappeared and returned to her pocket.

"See this? This timer has been running ever since I got here. Its been a bit over four years for me, see? I was eighteen when I got here. So, I'm actually almost twenty two and a half." He gave her an amazed expression.

"So..."

"Yep, I'm pretty old."

"No, what is THAT thing?" Dani facepalmed. The rest of the afternoon was spent explaining cell phones.


	11. Chapter 11

**Ok guys I owe the lot of you an apology. I didn't update for two weeks because I am super busy- finals are coming up. I MAY wind up not posting either next week or the one after because of the finals. After that I'll post some extras to make up for this. Thank you all for your reviews, you don't know what they mean to me.**

 **Also, the thing about Peggy being Toni's mom is a headcanon I found, I'll put the link in my profile with the next update.**

 **One more thing- Steve and Bucky are currently tied in the poll to see who Dani will date. If one doesn't break ahead, I'll just make a crappy love triangle and pick one.**

 **-Stax**

Chapter 11

"Get out of my head"

"Make me."

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Tony stopped walking and turned to Dani with an enraged expression on his face. She nearly ran into him. "Quit telling me how to live my life, you're not even real" he said frustratedly.

"I'm telling you, you're gonna break your arm if you go skating today. When have I ever been wrong before?"

"YOU JUST DON'T WANT ME TO DATE MY GIRLFRIEND!" He raged. She bit her lip. It was true, his current date was a rather unsavory character, but he was actually going to break his arm if he went. As a result he wouldn't be able to build stuff. Normally this wouldn't be a problem. However, Dani had seen visions that Tony would invent an innovative circut that would eventually be used in pacemakers and several other lifesaving devices. While the movie wouldn't be affected, Dani couldn't stand by and allow the few people it WOULD affect to die.

"No, you will break your arm" she said stubbornly. "Don't you trust me?" He made an angry huff and turned to stomp off. Dani followed behind him. She figured she would find another way to fix this...

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"Not to say I didn't tell you so, but..."

"Shut up."

"I ran in front of you and waved for you to move off to one side even."

"SHUT. UP."

"I, uh, I also noticed your girl ran off with that tall kid..."

"DANI I SWEAR-"

"Ok, ok, cool it, we're almost back home..." With her hand on his shoulder, Dani began walking up the long driveway with Toni. He was cradling his broken arm and wincing at every step. Maybe it was just the broken arm, but something felt off. A police car was at the door... Toni didn't seem to notice. Jarvis met them at the door and his face was worryingly grave. He was obviously upset at the broken arm but something else was amiss. As he led Toni to the car, he made an even more worrying statement.

"Something has happened... I'll explain after your arm is set" he told the pained teen. _Is that pity? That's PITY on his face_ Dani noted. She moved to get into the car with them.

"NO! Dani, don't come" he said in a voice mixed with anger and pain.

"But I-"

"Just stay out of it! Whatever happened, YOU could have prevented it" he said. Dani stepped back. She had a hunch what had happened. As the car sped away down the driveway, a cold feeling settled into the pit of her stomach.

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"Toni, I am so, so sorry."

" _Don't call me that."_

"I swear, I didn't know." Toni called her a name he had learned from her. Steve would have blushed.

"You knew every other time. Get out." _Just a few hours ago you thought I wasn't able to see the future..._ Now wasn't the time to argue with the grief laden boy before her.

"Toni-"

"Get OUT!" She backed out of the room sadly. As she had suspected- His father and mother had died in a car crash. She knew it was coming someday, but he was only just seventeen. He was too young... "No! WAIT!" The door opened and Toni stepped out. "Why am I being so nice!?" He snapped. "You let my MOM die!" _She wasn't your mom..._ Toni stomped forward angrily. "I should beat the shit out of you for that!" Shocked, Dani stepped back. While she could feel pain, she wouldn't take damage, but she couldn't fight back due to her current semi- intangible state, and she wasn't in the mood for a beating.

"Now hold on just a moment-"

"NO I WON'T HOLD ON, GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" he roared, stomping towards her quickly. Dani had faced Nazis, taken a bullet and jumped out of a plane, but at that moment she lost her nerve and turned and ran. The absolute rage in the boy's eyes chased away all of her happy memories with him. As she ran, she herd him chase for a few steps and then stop to yell. "DON'T COME BACK! DON'T YOU EVER COME BACK" he yelled.

She reached the foyer in which she had first appeared. She found that she was sobbing.

"Sphere" she gasped through her sobs, hoping he would appear. Maybe he would take her home now. _What do I have here now? Steve and Bucky are iced, Toni hates me-_ "SPHERE!" He still hadn't showed his glowy face. _I can't keep doing this_ she cried to herself.

" _Hi."_ Dani jumped.

"SPHERE?"

" _You want me to take you home... it isn't time yet"_ the glowing orb said, sounding like a mother talking to her child, telling him he couldn't leave the table until he finished his broccoli.

"I don't care, just take me home." The sphere hummed thoughtfully.

" _I could do that... or, I could take you to help Bucky"_ it said enticingly. Dani froze.

"No, he needs to be the Winter Soldier... I've seen it..."

" _I never said he wouldn't be"_ it said, bouncing exitedly. " _Did you know that you are able to absorb other people's pain?"_ It asked.

"WHAT!?"

" _Yes, you-_ "

"NO. WAIT. YOU MEAN TO TELL ME I COULD DO THAT THIS ENTIRE TIME!?" The sphere attempted to cut in and explain, but Dani was pissed. "DO YOU KNOW ALL THE TIMES I COULD HAVE USED THAT? WHEN STEVE HAD BEEN BEAT UP? WHEN HE WAS THROWING UP FROM HIS STOMACH ULCERS? WHEN HE COULD BARLY WALK FROM HIS SCOLIOSIS!?" She leaned forward angrily. "When Bucky had to have his wisdom teeth out" she added menacingly.

" _Yes, but-"_

"And now, Toni has a broken arm but he probably won't let me help him!" she hollered. The sphere hummed.

" _So do you want to help Bucky or not?"_ It asked impatiently, as if it all was no big deal. Dani hissed angrily.

"YES. FINE. TAKE ME THERE."

" _Right through that door"_ it said as it faded from view. Dani panicked.

"NO WAIT YOU HAVE TO TAKE ME HOME AFTER!" But it was already gone. Facepalming excessively and feeling like she was much older than she really was, she moved for the wooden front door.

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He was strapped to a metal table with a flurry of people around him. His arms were both human- the left one was hanging at an odd angle, however. _No... this is a bit after he fell!_ She panicked. _He's about to get his arm cut off!_ She rushed to the table and stood next to him.

"BUCKY!" To her extreme shock, Bucky groggily turned his head towards her.

"...Dani..." he said in a raspy voice.

"Bucky!" She realized they were getting ready to remove his arm. _No crap I shouldn't have woken him up-_ Time slowed down in a familiar way, and she had a tug in her mind to put her hands on his head. Hesitantly she did-

She was hit with a burst of searing pain. Bucky let out a gasp like an elephant had rolled off his chest. He also appeared more alert.

"Wait, no, don't, STOP!" Bucky was yelling as they began to cut off his arm. Dani... FELT like her arm was being cut off. Screaming and struggling to stay conscious, she let go of his head and fell backwards. Immediately, the pain vanished and Bucky started screaming. _Holy crap, no, I can litteraly take his pain._ She stood up, sweating in terror. _I can't stand that kind of pain, I can't..._

She slapped herself. _YES YOU CAN, YOU OWE IT TO BUCKY!_ She grabbed his head but more gently. The pain wasn't as bad, but Bucky obviously still was in some pain. She squeezed harder and her pain intensified. Bawling like a baby, she shifted the pressure so they seemed to have equal amounts. _If I take it all I am going to pass out_ she thought foggily.

The next few hours were hell. When the Hydra surgeons took short breaks in between operations, she caught her breath and assured Bucky that things would be alright. She knew she was lying to him. She had no idea how much time had passed, but eventually Arnim Zola entered and began talking some shit about Bucky being the "new face of Hydra". Exhausted and groggy from the pain, she screamed all the profanities she knew at the man. It didn't matter that he couldn't hear her. Bucky seemed to get strength from Dani's intact fighting spirit.

"Put him on ice." Dani's hands here torn off Bucky's head as he was quickly wheeled away. As she tried to walk through the closed door they had taken Bucky through, she found herself in a strange room with an intense pair of blue eyes on hers. With a sob, she fell to the floor and just closed her eyes. She telt a small hand on her head. A high pitched voice made a series of sounds; Dani didn't understand what was being said, but it sounded like a question. She was too exhausted to care. A thump sounded on the floor next to her and the hand on her head began to clumsily pat her hair. Sniffling, Dani looked up.

"Oh hell no" she said out loud. The girl had red, red hair. "...You're the black widow, aren't you" she sighed. The girl just stared at her- Dani noted that she looked like she had been sobbing too, and she couldn't be more than five or six. "I'm sorry, I'm not getting involved again" she said, shaking her head. The girl furrowed her brow and asked another question, again not in English.

Dani facepalmed and put her arm around the girl.

"Fine, but just this last time. You're... called Natalia now, aren't you?" The redhead's eyes widened and she scooted back. She started speaking very quickly. "Wait- wait- I don't speak Russian..." she looked into the girls slightly worried eyes. "...Dani" she said, pointing to herself. Natalia made a noise that was nowhere near how her name was pronounced. "Nuh-uh. Dah-nee." She stressed the syllables.

"Deh-nee"

"Danni."

"Denny." Dani huffed. Denny was close enough.

"Nice to meet you" she said, leaning forward and getting up. "So... I guess I'm doin' this again, huh" she asked. The young redhead had no clue what she was in for


	12. Chapter 12

_**Hello my lovely readers! A few short bits of news:**_

 _ **1) Finals are almost all over, so we are back to regular Sunday updates**_

 _ **2) The results of the poll are: A TIE! Between Steve and Bucky. So, I have decided to do a love triangle and y'all just gotta wait to see which one she really winds up with :D**_

 _ **Thank you all for your patience, I'm going to do some make-up chapters for the weeks I missed. They will probably be in two weeks.**_

 _ **-Stax**_

Chapter 12

"Just breathe, you can make it. You are strong. I'll tell you a story after, just think about the story" Dani urged the young girl before her.

Dani had asked Natalia where they were. Since she didn't speak Russian, there was obviously no reply. But Dani quickly figured it out herself.

This was hell, that was the only possibility. Not for Dani- but for her new friend. She lived with a bunch of other girls, all there against their wills, with several older women. The worst was Madam B. Dani remembered her from the Age of Ultron movie. In person, she nearly made her shit her pants.

At this moment, Madam was making all the girls go through a complex dance move that required the foot above the head. Girls had begun to collapse an hour and a half ago, and now only seven remained. Right on cue, a girl with jet black hair and bags under her eyes fell and began sobbing. The poor child, who should barely be in first grade, resigned herself to be dragged off by two older girls. Dani shuddered. The girls who failed always came back black and blue, sore and quivering. She turned back to Natalia.

" _Story after. Finish"_ she said to the redhead in Russian. She didn't know enough to really hold a conversation, her new friend taught her more words every day. A bead of sweat ran down the back of the child's neck; she was clearly exhausted, but a fierce determination burned in her eyes.

Granted, even if Natalia failed, Dani could take some of the pain of the resulting torture. But she had just gotten back from another ordeal with Bucky. Every time the poor guy had to have his mind wiped after a mission, she was dragged there. The pain was the stuff of nightmares, but when she considered leaving him to deal with the pain once (which she was not proud of), she had visions of Bucky dying. He would freaking die from the pain. That's how much that crap hurt.

So she really didn't want to deal with Natalia getting beaten right now, thank you very much.

"Again" ordered the ever imposing Madam. Or, at least, that was what Dani figured the sharp command was. Nat's ankle shook on this execution, which did not escape her tormentor's watchtull eye. "Again." This time it was apparently to her liking. She nodded at the girl. "Natalia" she began, and let out a string of words that sounded like a command- and maybe a little bit of praise.

The sweaty child curtsied and quickly left the area. Dani followed, wincing as another child fell behind her.

" _Story?"_ Nat asked as the two hurried down the cold hall.

" _Bath"_ Dani insisted. Looking quite depressed, she complied. She bathed in record time, however.

" _Story"_ she demanded. Dani blew a chunk of hair out of her face and led her friend over to her bed. They sat down side by side and she pulled out her phone. Since Dani only knew enough Russian to grunt one-word commands, she just fed stories she found from the internet through google translate and read that as best she could. They were currently part way through a creepypasta that Nat had taken a shine to. She could be a bit morbid at times.

Typically, Dani would read and Nat would correct her pronunciation every six words or so. She was improving her accent and learning new words, and viewed it as a lesson for her. Two birds with one stone. It was always the best part of the day. But she had barely gotten past the first sentence when gunshots were heard from down the hall!

"Get under the bed!" Dani ordered. Nat stared blankly. Dani pointed under to demonstrate what she meant. "What do you MEAN, no?" She asked as the girl shook her head. "Oh." Natalia rolled under the low dresser, having to squeeze a bit to fit. "I guess you can hide there..."

More gunshots sounded. Dani felt her breath catch. She suspected she had a tiny bit of PTSD from the war, tiny things triggered it occasionally, but now there were REAL guns. She heard a scream from down the hallway followed by a gunshot.

"Stay here" she said in the general area of the dresser. Not waiting for an answer, she went trough the door and looked left. "Oh my Lord."

Running to the small girl on the floor, she ignored the crowd of men with military grade weapons. In the past when she had tried to take the pain of the other girls it hadn't worked, but maybe... _Oh no, God no..._

Leaving the lifeless, small body on the ground, she stood up and lunged at the closest man screaming in a guttural fashion. Of course, she sailed right through and body slammed the wall. Shaking her head, she turned around. _I have to keep Nat safe..._

She returned to the room and made gestures to tell the girl to stay. Her blue eyes peered calmly at her from under the dusty piece of furniture. Shortly, a group of the men came into the room and began to ransack the place. The first place they checked was... under the bed. _Good call, Nat. Good call._ Her heart stood still when one of the men looked under the dresser.

But he moved away without pulling the child out. Dani knelt to look underneath as well. Her friend was nowhere to be seen. She slid underneath further and looked up.

"Hi. Don't your arms hurt doing that?" Natalia was hanging from the underside of the drawer, just out of view. The girl indeed seemed to be tiring. Sweat was dripping down her face and her arms were shaking. After what seemed to be an eternity, the men left. Dani felt guilty at her sigh of relief, as more gunshots could be heard. Dani made Nat stay hidden long after the noise died down.

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Very few girls were gathered in the room with Madam B. Dani couldn't understand what she was saying, but the men from before were standing behind her. From what she could gather, this had been planned to weed out the weak links. Dani shook with rage. The children were dismissed before long, and Nat had to calm her raging friend.

"Denny" she said soothingly as she turned to hug Dani. She took a deep breath and helped Nat get tucked in. " _Story?"_ She asked. Nodding, Dani pulled her phone out and continued from where they had left off. Nat might get to sleep tonight, but she knew she wouldn't rest as long as this sort of thing was a possibility. _No way in hell is Nat dying on my watch._

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" _Like I always say, they have your body but they don't have your will"_ Dani said to the sad woman on the bed next to her. Five years, according to her phone, had been spent here as moral support for Nat. Bucky as well. Nine years in this stupid, stupid dimension. It felt like an eternity. Nat had, with Dani's help, survived all of the purges that Madam B. had thrown at them.

But things always got progressively worse here. At one point they began handcuffing the girls to their beds at night, the two were currently waiting for the morning guard to come and unlock Nat. And they made her do horrible things... Dani tried to be her friend's "little angel on the shoulder", but every time the girl tried to do the right thing her life was at risk. Now her friend was eighteen. _That was how old I was when I first came here. It seems like lifetimes ago._

Shaking herself from her thoughts, she turned to her distraught friend. They were going to sterilize her after her graduation from the program, and Dani could not for the life of her think of a way out.

" _They will kill me if I just sit down and quit"_ Nat stated emotionlessly. She was good at that. Dani wiped her hand over her face.

" _Yes, they will. I can't stop them and you can't stop them in that scenario. I can't make the decision for you, Nat. Having children isn't everything... and someday, when you get out of here, you could adopt."_ Her friend shot her a dubious look. _"You WILL get out of here. You will have a life and more friends and you won't need me"_ she assured her.

 _"No! Don't you ever go away!"_ Nat said, emotions uncharacteristically showing through. Remembering situations of the past, Dani sadly shook her head.

 _"I can't promise that. But believe me when I say you won't need me. You are strong, stronger than you think."_ The morning guard came in to unlock the girls in that room, and Dani stood up. " _I'll see you after your graduation"_ she said, feeling herself slipping away again. Nat nodded and left the room.

Dani expected to see Bucky as the room around her faded away. She steeled herself for the coming pain- she had lost track of the number of times she had sucked her friend's pain through a mind wipe, crying and barely able to stand, breathlessly chanting "Your name is Bucky. Your name is Bucky" to him. It had been almost two months, however, since the last time she had seen the man. She had almost hoped that she was done with all that. A door appeared in front of her, and breathing deeply, she opened it. Bucky was not on the other side- but a very familiar scene WAS.

"...Is this... nineteen forties BROOKLYN!?"


	13. Chapter 13

**Lemme start off with a massive apology. I can no longer update weekly due to a crap ton of homework and additional commitments. I think every other week, but I can't guarantee. What I CAN guarantee is that I will not give up on this story. I have the entire thing planned out except for the end, but that's because I have two ways I want to end it. I just have to find the time to type it AND be able to have a weak semblance of a social life.**

 **Thank you for your patience.**

 **Also, I known this is short, I plan (** _ **but ONLY plan)**_ **upon having a full length chapter next week and then settle into the "every other Sunday" schedule.**

 **And as always, thank you for your comments. They mean more than you know.**

 **-Stax**

Chapter 13

For the first time in ages, Dani cried. _I'm home,_ she thought, looking around at the street. Back in the forties, back where Steve and Bucky where.

She jolted with a realization. _I feel like this is my home...?_ Not the world she came from, but this alternate dimension. It was because her best friends were from here. Shaking herself from this thought, she stepped off the stoop she was on and attempted to regain her bearings.

She recognized the street. Not quite three blocks away was the alley where she had met Steve. Starting in that direction, she began to feel hope in her chest. _I can warn myself to let go of the train instead of holding on and trying to explain- I can save Bucky!_ She noted, a warm, triumphant feeling blooming in her chest. And then, up ahead her on the street-

"STEVE!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, racing towards the man. He didn't react. "STEVE, STEVE DAMNIT!" She yelled as she neared him. He was tall now- she realized that this was that time when they took five days off their campaign in Europe to rest in Brooklyn. Bucky had hurt his leg and they all had needed a rest. "STEEEEE-"

She cut off as she ran right through him.

"Steve!?" She waved her hand in front of his face. "Steve..." he couldn't see her. She yelled some unsavory swear words at the sky and attempted to kick at a conveniently placed rock. Steve looked up then.

"Dani" he said with a pleasant smile on his face.

"Steve!?" He began to walk towards her. "You can see me!?" She shouted. She opened her arms to hug him as he came up right by her- and walked through her. She turned around.

"Steve, I thought you were watching Bucky?" It was Dani. Well, not Dani in this present moment- Dani from back when she still was visible. Dani watched the scene, remembering how it went.

"I thought YOU were watching Bucky" the invisible Dani Whispered.

"I thought YOU were watching Bucky!" past Dani echoed, shock on her face. The current Dani smirked. Bucky was far from willing to rest on his hurt leg, someone had to be with him at all times to make sure he didn't go out until it was healed. Dani remembered thinking about how un-Bucky-like that was, and how it really was more characteristic for Steve to pull that crap.

But now she had had time to stew in these memories. Really, Bucky was probably convinced that Steve was still going to get in fights and need saving, being the natural worrier that he was. To everyone around him, Bucky seemed like a very mentally sturdy person. His popularity and outward appearance of strength gave everyone around him the wrong impression. Dani was his confidante, she knew his weakness: Steve. Bucky had one or two grey hairs from him, Dani had seen them herself.

Shaking herself from her thoughts, she raced after Steve and... well, herself, as they sped down the cobbled road to find their friend.

 _Crap._ There was a boy ahead, and if Dani's memory wasn't failing her, he was about to get run over by her past self. Sure enough...

"OW!"

"Ohcrapsorry" her past body said, clearly distressed, helping the boy to his feet. "Sorrycan'tstayreallysorry" She blurted and ran after Steve, who had a head start now. Current Dani stopped at the boy, who was staring in awe.

"That was Captain America and Corporal White!" He said, bouncing up and down. "That was-" he said turning to Dani, his rant cut off by a shocked gasp. "BUT-" he looked down at the receding form of her past self, then back at her current self. "BUT..."

"Wait" Dani cut him off bending down to his height, "You can SEE me?" The kid gulped and nodded. Dani facepalmed. _I guess this is the next person. But who the hell could it be? Wolverine? He's Canadian though..._ "Kid, I'm your imaginary friend" she said, standing back up. _Magneto? Nah, he was in Europe now... are the X-men even in this universe?_ She wondered. The kid pouted.

"Really?"

"Yep."

"Then why couldn't I get Captain America instead?" Signing, she resigned herself to the reality that most boys were going to prefer Steve to her.

"Because I'm cooler, you will see" she insisted. "Now... what is your name?"

"I'm Phillip Coulson" the boy said with a grin.

Dani didn't know what to do with that information.

 **This is from a headcanon I saw on pinterest months ago. I'll explain how its possible in the next chapter.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Yep! I'm not dead! This "chapter every other Sunday" schedule works much better for me, I am gonna stick with it while I have spring classes. I have a month or two off before the fall semester though, I am going to try to get ahead on writing then so I can update weekly for a while.**

 **Also, I am going to incorporate the events of Civil War, but** _ **Dani hasn't seen the movie!**_ **She was sent to the Marvel Cinematic Universe before it even had an advertisement out, so she will be going it with only her extra sense to help her save the day.**

 **-Stax**

 **Chapter 14**

"Uh... what did you say?" Dani asked the boy in a dubious tone. He gave her a weird look and stuck out his hand.

"Just call me Phil" he said, nodding with finality. Dani hiccuped and stared at him.

"Phil Coulson" she said, still coming to terms with things. Her new companion frowned and shifted his weight.

"Now, see here" he began, "If I am going to have an imaginary friend who is NOT Captain America-" Dani interrupted him with an indignant noise but he continued- " If I am going to have an imaginary friend who is not Captain America, then that means that I can still play Captain America" he finished with a nod. "And you can be Bucky."

"Excuse me?"

"Bucky is so cool, he kinda-" Phil mimed a punch, squinting one eye. "And then he kinda-" Dani jumped as the boy kicked over a trash can.

"Calm the frick down, I'm not gonna be Bucky" she grumped.

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"You make the best Bucky ever!" Giggled a tired Phil. Dani, far from exhausted, crouched beside the panting child.

"Next time, I get to be Captain America and you have to be me" she said as she fake glared at him. Glancing up, she noted that the sun was low. "You had better go home, Phil. It's gonna be your bedtime soon" she told him. Still chuckling, they parted ways. Dani sat on a street corner and tried to ignore the horrible feeling she got in the pit of her stomach as she looked around the familiar settings.

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Dani was getting sick of Sphere's shit.

"HOW MUCH MORE OF THIS!?" she screamed at the sky. Just like every other night, nothing responded. She wasn't sure why she was here or when she would see sphere again- it had been an additional three years on her phone since she had met Phil, and with all of the jumping ahead, he was now in his mid twenties.

And Dani was not in the mood for another day of this. She hadn't seen the sphere since before she saw Phil for the first time. Since then, not one thing had happened that she had to correct. Not one event that endangered the timeline. Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Dani was just so tired of being unable to do anything except interact with the exuberant fanboy who thought she was merely an imaginary friend. She was bored, she missed her family-

 _Do I really miss my family!?_ She stopped, that thought crashing in. Sitting down on a street corner to analyze the situation, she came to the shocking conclusion that she hadn't really thought of or missed her family in the twelve years she had been gone. She buried her face in her hands. _I can't even make myself miss them! What is wrong with me?_ She wondered. Why, she couldn't even-

She stood up in shock.

"I don't remember my family's names!" She shrieked, panicking. "How do I not know their names!?" Pacing down the street, she thought hard. Still nothing. Involuntarily her eyes started to water. _This is awful! What kind of person am I?_ _I don't even want to go home again..._

She remembered a familiar face, one from back home. God, she couldn't even remember her family's faces, but this she remembered. She even remembered his name. How could she remember his name but not her family?

She wanted to go home for him. If not for anything else, for him. She would finish what sphere wanted of her. Then, she would go home and tell him how she felt and stop being a coward like she was before.

With that still in her mind, she curled up on a doorstep to rest.

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The next morning was warm, sunny, and full of-

"AUUUUGH!" Dani shrieked.

"I didn't know that imaginary friends needed sleep" Phil said, his face inches from hers. Dani hissed disapprovingly.

"It's to rest our minds, not our bodies" She retorted, feeling angry for some reason.

"Well, today the company has an important meeting about the serum development," her twenty-some-year-old friend informed her. "You could come, it'll be fun!" Dani stood up. Phil worked for the newly created S.H.I.E.L.D., who had recently discovered a possible way to recreate the super soldier serum.

Dani appreciated the offer, but she really didn't want to be reminded of Steve and Bucky and her past failures. She opened her mouth to decline-

And a rush of images came to her mind of people dying. She didn't recognize most of them, but... Natasha. Natasha was one of the people who would die. Shutting her mouth, she stepped off the porch. Her mind had been decided for her. In spite of the fact that she knew lives were going to be at stake today, she felt excitement bubble up in her chest at the thought of something REAL happening.

"Sure, let's go" she grinned.

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"You have to do it."

"I'm not gonna do it."

"DUDE YOU HAVE TO DO IT!"

"What did you just call me!?"

Dani facepalmed. Phil didn't know what "dude" meant, of course, that wasn't a common slang term now. But she didn't have time to argue with him now.

"Phil, you know how the serum works. It magnifies who you are as a person as WELL as your body. If you don't take it, then someone else will and it's not gonna be pretty."

The small subsection of SHIELD had chosen Phil to use the experimental serum. He didn't want to. Dani kept getting the visions- he HAD to take it. Some other guy, a hydra agent in disguise, was next in line if Phil refused.

"I can't do that, Dani. You don't know that'll happen, and besides, I have Mom to take care of. What if something goes wrong!?"

" _What would Captain America do?"_ She asked him. He froze.

"Don't you use him to pressure me" he said frustratedly.

"Phil, what do I gotta do to convince you" she urged, "you need to take the serum and you need to do it soon." He looked her in the eye tiredly.

"You aren't gonna let this drop, are you" he asked. She shook her head. "And I can't just imagine you away, sadly" he added, shuffling his feet. She shook her head again. "I'll... I'll think about it" he mumbled.

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"get the crash cart, GET THE CRASH CART!" The nurse yelled. Another began compressions on Dani's prostrate friend.

"Oh God, Phil, I'm so sorry" Dani wispered as her friend's face began to drain of colour. Dani sent a silent barrage of cuss words at whomever had given her the visions. Who would have thought that the serum would stop his heart...

It didn't take long for the doctors to give up. Dani began to cry. _It's just one more thing that I've screwed up on._ The crash cart was wheeled away. Dani knelt down next to the procedure table.

Phil's body jerked.

Dani sat up.

Phil's body jerked again. Then he started breathing.

Dani cried _happy_ tears.

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"I'm still mad."

"But you're alive!"

"But I died for a bit" Phil said, just sounding tired. "And it wasn't fun. I'm still pretty mad at you" he added. The doctors wound up deciding to discontinue development of this strain of the serum after Phil had died and resuscitated himself several times. It had been a scary few hours for Dani.

She could tell that he was very angry with her but he was hiding it. To be honest, she was very angry with herself as well. But now she knew how he was alive when the Avengers were... assembled. The serum should take care of that.

She could feel a familiar, subtle tug on something in her chest, and knew that she was going to go to a new person soon. So, she leaned over and gave Phil a hug.

"Phil."

"What?"

"Uh... I have to leave now..."

"Ok."

"...no, I mean leave for good."

Phil gave her a strange look.

"Can you even do that?"

"Yeah... and it's gonna be in like a few seconds..." She stood up and he did as well, the anger out of his eyes.

"Will I ever see you again?" He asked. She smiled.

"I don't know, but you are gonna meet someone much better, I promise" she said as she hugged him goodbye. _He's gonna be so exited when he meets Steve..._ He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could utter a sound-

She was falling.

Legit falling, with no end in sight. An involuntary scream slipped from her throat before she calmed herself. It was dark, she couldn't see the bottom, she had no clue where the hell she was.


	15. Chapter 15

**Ok guys, posting this a little late because I forgot... studying is taking over my life and I apologize. Good news is, summer finals are this week. Meaning, after two weeks I will resume weekly updates!**

 **In other news- I made a one shot that I am very proud of, consider checking it out on my profile. I am probably going to add another three chapters (making it no longer a one shot but what the hell).**

 **Also I have just started reading "Twilight" and I'm not sure how I feel about it. If it turns out I enjoy the series, you will know because there will be crappy fanfics about it on my profile.**

 **And last but not least, thank you so much to everyone who has commented. It means alot to me when I know that you enjoy the story.**

 **-Stax**

Chapter 15

Dani waited patiently as she fell in the seemingly infinite dark space. It could only have been five minutes that she had been free falling, really. It was still getting... boring. She crossed her arms.

 _Wait, I could just fiddle around on my phone until I get to the bottom_ she realized. _If... if there is a bottom..._ shuddering at that thought, she twisted to remove the device from her back pocket. The strange app was the first thing she checked.

The place that usually showed the current date was scrolling through different letters and numbers, which freaked Dani out more than a little. _I'll just listen to some music to calm down..._ Opening her playlist, she fumbled and the phone slipped from her hands. Her thumb hit the button to continue the song she had last listened to-

 _If I could fall into the sky_

 _Do you think time would pass me by_

Dani mentally facepalmed and tried to "swim" through the air towards the phone. The scant light from the screen revealed nothing in the darkness beyond, and she felt panic rise. _I have to get to it before the backlight goes out_ she fussed to herself.

 _'Cause you know I'd walk a thousand miles if I could just see you..._

With a jolt, Dani wasn't falling any more. She looked around in shock.

The jolt wasn't from hitting the bottom, she was someplace new...

"AM I IN FREAKING OUTER SPACE!?" She shrieked to no one in particular. Indeed, she was surrounded by what looked like a nebula. "Ok, how am I breathing?" She heard muffled voices. "HELLO!? WHO THE HELL IS THAT?" Nobody responded. That's when Dani made the astute observation that the phone was not in her hand.

Swearing, she tried to propel herself forward again with little success. The muffled voices got louder and more frustrated for a second before Dani was jolted again.

This time she wasn't floating. She belly flopped onto soft, mint green grass that smelled like a fancy candle. Scrambling to her feet, she felt her frustration rise. No longer able to hear the voices, she opened her mouth to curse whomever was doing this to her.

Another jolt came. She was falling again.

"Screw you!"

"What?" A voice came back. It was a young voice. Dani tried to look around to see where it came from.

Nobody was there- but wherever she was now, it was beautiful. Colors streaked past on a black background as she plummeted God knows where. But she didn't have time for this shit.

"Who the hell are you and where the hell am I!?" She screamed at the voice. It huffed annoyedly.

"Hold on, I can't get the spell right" it informed her. Dani flipped off the general direction she thought the voice was coming from. Another voice made a comment.

"Brother, perhaps we should ask mother-"

The voice was cut off as Dani jerked again and slammed into what felt like a metal surface, banging her head hard. Somebody gasped in front of her.

She stood up, ready to give her tormentor an ear full.

"...Loki?" She asked. "...Thor?"

The two were standing in front of her, with a positively giddy look on their faces. At least, she THOUGHT it was them. It looked like the characters from the movie, but in their mid teens.

"Which one of you was making me fall like that" she asked dangerously. Thor pointed at his brother, stupid grin still spread across his features. Dani hauled back and slugged Loki as hard as she was physically able.

"Ow! Odin's beard, why did you hit me?" The green clad boy appeared more shocked than hurt, he hadn't even flinched. Dani stepped forwards and pointed her finger up in his face.

"You kept friggin' DROPPING me. And you dumped me on some pixie-shit grass, which was a surprisingly hard landing!" Loki's mouth continued to open and close like he didn't know what to say. "What do you have to say for yourself?" She asked in her best 'stern mom voice' that she would typically use on Steve.

An arm wrapped around her waist and jerked her half off her feet.

"Enough of this banter! Loki, you have summoned a sufficient companion. Come, let us make adventure!" Thor practically shouted in her ear in a jovial tone. Dani elbowed him right in the beefy chest, which had no effect.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU 'SUMMONED' ME!? I HAVE A JOB TO FINISH SO I CAN GO HOME!" Dani shrieked. The python-like arm wrapped far too tightly around her waist made her voice sound constricted and pitchy, which made Thor wince at least.

"Erm... put her down, Thor" Loki hesitantly instructed his brother. Dani's feet touched the ground and the arm disappeared.

"Start talking" Dani ordered Loki.

"Well... you see, we were trying a spell to summon a companion. I even followed the book this time" Loki said nervously, gesturing to the open book on the metallic floor with an open hand. "It can only be used once, it is an ancient spell. Mother was saving it" he said, suddenly looking miserable. "It seems I have failed, and now the spell cannot be used again. And..."

"And what!?"

"You... erm... we-wont-be-able-to-send-you-back-" Loki said hurriedly and then looked down at his feet. Dani gaped for a second.

"I have things to do, I'll WALK out of Asgard if I must" she insisted. She felt a jolt in her back pocket.

 _'Cause you know I'd walk a thousand miles_

 _If I could just see you-_

"Screw this phone" Dani mumbled under her breath as she pulled the phone out of her pocket and stopped the song. She had forgotten that her phone would return to her pocket if left out of her hands for a while. Loki and Thor were both looking at her strangely.

"You... you know of Asgard?" Loki looked down at her phone. "And you have magic?" He looked like he was going to start fangirling, if Dani knew that look. She sighed and lolled her head back towards the sky, cursing her luck.

"Ok... I guess we BOTH have some explaining to do" she said sadly.

XXX

"Listen, yer highness- I don't see why you can't just shoot me back to earth with the Bifrost doohickey and be done with it" Dani grumped as she stood before Odin himself. It turned out, everyone could see her here and she could even move objects. It barely mattered though, because Thor was treating her like his own personal teddy bear. She was getting thrown around MORE than she used to.

"You dare demand I break the ancient spell?" Odin thundered from his throne. He was being damn stubborn.

"Yes." Odin frustratedly buried his face in one hand at the single word response. She failed to understand the significance of her request.

"Child, this spell cannot be broken lightly. Prophecies regarding the one the spell summons have been passed down for generations. Yet, I understand your frustration- my sons will be punished for their disobedience."

"Odin- listen, I don't want you to spank your kids, I want to finish my job so I can go home." She shifted her weight impatiently and stared directly into his one eye.

"You cannot. That is all. Guards, show her to her quarters." And just like that, the conversation was over. A very pissed Dani was led off by two burly Asgardians, each with a hand on her shoulder. Dani made eye contact with Loki as she passed him, and somehow the little shit managed to look both apologetic and impish at the same time.

 _I'm getting too old for this..._

 **I'm gonna have fun with this for a few chapters, so buckle up if you please :D**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hi guys! Short chapter, but GOOD NEWS! I'm updating weekly again, from now until college starts again. I'm even gonna try to get extra chapters ready so I can continue the once-per-week schedule into the school year.**

 **In other news- I've decided to make my story "Fabulous" five chapters long because I have a long list of stories I want to write. I figure if I have more than two projects simultaneously in the works, I won't be able to update often enough for you all. So expect a helluva lot more fanfictions coming your way soon.**

 **Lastly- thank you to the guest who caught my error in chapter 4, I really appreciate that.**

 **-Stax**

 **Chapter 16**

Dani sat with her head in her hands, feet dangling off the side of her massive bed.

It was a nice room and all that. But Dani wasn't able to appreciate the beauty, so absorbed by her predicament she was.

 _If I can get out of here, maybe I can get to Heimdal and he can..._ she shook her head with realization. _He'll be loyal to Odin, he'll just send me back... unless I take his STAFF! Then I can operate the Bifrost on my own!_ Standing up, she lept over to the massive wooden door and grasped the handle.

It was locked, of course. After a futile, halfhearted punch against the unmoving slab of wood, Dani put her back to the door and slid down to sit on the floor. _I probably wouldn't know how to work the Bifrost anyways. With my luck, I'd send myself to some random planet with dinosaur-shark hybrids._ She blew a depressed sigh and took in the room for the first time.

It was definitely a step up from her 8x14 room back home. One wall was an intricate painted wooden carving. It seemed to depict numerous tiny scenes of battles. She couldn't really tell from where she was and she was in no mood to move.

The rest of the room was a combination of ivory and bluish-green, and the furnishings were comparable to what you would have in a one bedroom apartment. Minus the microwave, obviously.

Dani closed her eyes and thudded her head back against the dense door. Plans of escape flitted through her mind. Maybe she could survive the hundred foot drop out the windows...

She found herself suddenly being pushed from behind. Opening her eyes, she saw the wall coming towards her and quickly rolled out of the way. Spinning, she saw a guard standing in the now open doorway with a tray and a fancy towel.

"You nearly squished me with the door!" She yelled, heart still pounding from the near miss.

"Here is your dinner, my lady" the towering guard replied without missing a beat. He walked in the room, placed the tray on a convenient table and draped the towel on the bed. Dani took the opportunity to dart out the door at high speed. She only made it six steps before she was off her feet and being carried like a football back to her accommodations.

"Listen, I have places to be, I can't-"

The door was shut in her face.

Dani decided that now was a good time to loose it. Screaming at the unforgiving wood that stood between her and freedom, she relieved herself of the stress she had been carrying the last few years. Jumbled words fell out as she fussed about her problems at maximum volume. Minutes passed; when she felt more tired than angry and her throat felt too raw to yell anymore, she threw herself dramatically back onto her bed and wheezed.

 _"You definitely need a vacation."_ Dani sat up, shocked.

"Sphere! SPHERE!" The glowing orb bobbed in what could be perceived as a nod. "Wait... I don't need a vacation, I need you to take me to the next place so I can finish up and go home!"

 _"You're stressed, you need a vacation or you won't have the mental energy to finish. You have a ways to go."_ Dani breathed deeply to calm herself.

"Fine." She hissed. "I still don't see what gives you the right to make me-" she inhaled sharply, having come to a terrifying realization. "S-sphere..."

" _What?"_

"You... I was..." gulping, Dani continued. "...I was praying for God to get me out of class when you took me... are you... I mean... are you...?"

The sphere began to laugh. It felt like a tickle in Dani's brain, it was the weirdest sensation ever. Dani let out a nervous chuckle.

" _Goodness, no, I'm not God. Oh, that's beautiful."_ The sphere bobbed jovially. _"This is my desk job."_

"What the hell!" Dani hopped off the bed in shock. "This is your freaking DESK JOB!? How do you have a desk job, you're a glorified basketball!" Sphere floated back slightly.

 _"I'm... I'm not a ball of light, this is a portal that I can use to talk to you and move you to your job."_

"What." Dani asked dangerously.

 _"What?"_ The sphere echoed, obviously confused.

"You mean to tell me that you do this to other people? You snatch them up for no reason?"

" _Well, not ME. The others do most of the work, they even have multiple runs going. I'm still an intern, someday I will have TWO people to oversee!"_ The sphere bobbed happily, obviously missing Dani's distress.

Dani lost her shit at that.

"WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU TAKE INNOCENT PEOPLE AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES TO DO THIS CRAP? WHY CAN'T _YOU_ DO IT, ITS SUPPOSED TO BE YOUR JOB! YOU DAMN WELL BETTER TAKE ME HOME NOW BEFORE I-"

" _Oh, well, whoops, I'm running out of power, you're breaking up. Enjoy your vacationnnnnnn..."_ the sphere faded from view.

"Aaaauuugghhh!" Dani proceeded to kick the wall. "Damn it!" The freshly injured foot was quickly ignored- part of the wooden wall was moving. A panel of carvings slid out like a door. The one person Dani did NOT want to see at the moment stepped into the room from the dark hole.

"I want you to show me your magic" Loki informed her, eyes sparkling with excitement.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So you see, its science. Like, the things your doctors use to scan. Technology. It isn't magic, I swear." A disappointed Loki sighed at her last comment.

"We could still have adventures I suppose-" Loki was interrupted by his brother's loud entrance.

"Yes! Brother, the adventures are waiting to be had! Let us bring Lady Danielle and find a fearsome enemy to slay!" Dani dragged her hand over her face.

"If I'm gonna slay anything, it's gonna be your asses" she said, then winced. "No. No. Forget that, that sounds wrong. Lemme rephrase that. I should kick your asses for bringing me here". Loki looked at her curiously.

"Asses?"

"Yeah. Like, your ass. But plural. Because there are two of you."

"I'm not familiar with the term" Loki informed her.

"Like... butts. But its a stronger word for butt. Your dad won't like you using it I'm sure" Dani sighed. Burying her head in her hands, she griped- "What has my life come to? I'm teaching cuss words to Loki in what SHOULD be a fictional universe!" She was jerked off the bed by her waist.

"Lady Danielle wishes to slay asses, brother. We must find some and vanquish them!" Thor tightened his grip uncomfortably. Dani halfheartedly flipped off her tormenter with her free arm.

"What does this mean?" Loki asked, mimicking the hand shape.

"No, no Loki, don't do thaA-" Dani was jolted as Thor unceremoniously carted her down the dark passage. Loki followed. "Put me down Thor, you're pissing me off." Her feet touched the ground and she sadly began to follow Thor. Loki grabbed her arm.

"Wait, you must put on the dress Father sent" he urged.

"Dress?" Loki dragged her back to the room and pointed at the fancy towel the guard had brought. Holding it up, Dani found that it was a terribly intricate, well cut dress. It shimmered blue, had all sorts of fancy stitches and designs, and looked every bit a fairytale dress.

She threw it over the nearest chair.

"Nah, I'll stick with these" she said, gesturing at her current attire. Ever since she had jumped from the plane and blacked out in the ice, her "ghost" form had not changed clothes. It was just the specially made army uniform from when she was in the forties, but it reminded her of her best friends. No way in hell was she changing them out for some pansy-ass dress.

"But you-" Loki began.

"Nope! No! I made up my mind, dude, I'm gonna stick with this. I'll take it up with your poppa if I have to" she told him stubbornly. After hesitating, Loki shrugged and turned back towards the tunnel. Thor had bounced off out of sight.

Dani pulled the wooden panel closed after her. _All I have to do is wait for a chance to get to the Bifrost_ she assured herself. _It'll only be a few days..._

 **I'm gonna do some fluffy stuff about Loki in my "extras" section, which is a separate story. I feel like it would drag out too much in this story and it's not essential to the plot. Probably I'll do it Wednesday next week after I have another Asgard chapter out. So if fluff is your thing, keep an eye out for that.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hi guys, this is the last chapter before the first Thor movie, and then one more person for her to see- then the shitstorm starts :)**

 **Thank you to the guests who commented. For those of you who gave me feedback- I would like to point out that I did say it was going to be a bit of a Mary Sue in my first chapter's A/N. Iron Man does hate her guts currently and I have some rough patches coming up as well, but there are other stories that have more turbulent story lines if you don't like it.**

 **And before I forget- I am going to rewrite the chapter with Tony's parent's death, because it conflicts with Civil War. I'll let you know when it's done. Also, there will be a fluffy chapter out on my supporting story about Wednesday.**

 **-Stax**

Chapter 17

Thor was not the sharpest tool in the shed, Dani concluded very quickly.

He wasn't a total moron, granted, but every stinking joke she made went over his head. He was far to quick to jump into battle as well. His idea of a good time was to practice one on one combat, which was frankly hellish. Dani, being the puny mortal she was, couldn't even come close to inflicting bruises the way her new blond friend could. Additionally, it was terrifying how proficient he was with heavy blunt objects.

This was why she was on the outskirts of Asgard currently, with a certain villain-to-be.

"We should have thought of this before now" Loki idly commented as the water dragged over his pale feet. A secluded location, their current perch overlooked a surprisingly sparkly field/forest combo and was alongside a small brook. Dani had taken the less conservative approach and was up to her knees in sweet smelling Asgardian water.

"I feel a bit bad about ditching your brother, but he will have more fun with Sif than he would beating me into a lump of crying mush" Dani commented, kicking a lavender streaked rock from the creek bed.

"He was quite pleasurable to play with as a child, but I too fail to see the amusement in gratuitous combat" her companion replied, leaning down to trail his long fingers in the water. "I much prefer to entertain myself in a more educated fashion." Ice crystals spread around his fingers, making a pattern reminiscent of a snowflake. Lifting his finger off the geometric piece of ice, he watched it float away down stream with an amused expression.

"Your magic is pretty damn awesome" Dani praised, poking the ice with her toe as it floated past. "But you know what would be cooler? If you used slang like I taught you so you don't sound so..."

"Intellectual?"

"Stupid is what I was gonna say." Loki wrinkled his face and flipped Dani off.

"You gotta stop doing that, man" Dani sighed.

"I will when you tell me what it means" He smugly shot back. Dani dragged her hand over her face. A crashing in the bushes prevented her from making a snarky reply.

"Brother! At last I have found you! Look, Father has given me my own armor! Come, I must test it in combat and Sif is busy-"

"Yo, Thor, waddup dawg! You be lookin' hella fine in yo swaggy kicks, home slice! Yo, we gonna cruise on back to yo pad or wat?" Loki responded. Dani tried and failed to contain her explosive laughter. Loki smirked at her. He never used the words she taught him around her, but he would jam them all in a sentence together when someone else came.

"Loki, have you taken ill?" Thor questioned his brother with a worried tone and expression. Dani couldn't stop laughing if her life depended on it.

"Fo shizzle mah nizzle" Loki nodded.

"Loki, let's just help the poor kid out" Dani gasped as she held her stomach. Still snorting, she sloshed out of the water. Loki sighed.

"This party was so lit, though." He too left the water. He hung back with Dani, however, as Thor gallopped ahead. "Thor will be king, you know" he commented casually, but covertly glancing at her out the corner of his eyes to gauge her reaction. The action did not go unnoticed.

"Maybe."

"He has the warrior's spirit, I prefer my books and my magic. He possesses the skills necessary to protect the kingdom... and he is older" Loki elaborated.

"Yeah, but, he's a bit of an idiot now. Just because you CAN use violence to protect Asgard doesn't mean you SHOULD use violence. Ya know?" Loki's face wrinkled up in disgust and he exploded.

"PRECISELY! And just because the ability to fight is more valued than intelligence here, I don't stand a chance as king!" Dani recalled that Odin would choose Thor to take the throne because Loki was actually a frost giant. _I gotta have words with that man..._

"Loki" she stopped him after a moment of silence. "Listen. Here, look at me." They stopped and faced each other. "You gotta remember something for me, okay?" She urged. He nodded, looking confused. "No matter what anyone says, it's alright to be different. Got it?" _That sounds about as cheesy as advice comes..._ "And also, YOU determine who you are."

"Alright..."

"Good, let's go kick Thor's butt" she concluded. A very perplexed Loki was left wondering what the hell she was talking about.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Knock knock."

Odin looked up from the letter he was reading. It was that infernal girl Loki had summoned with the sacred spell. Sighing deeply, he set the parchment down and stood.

"You may enter." She complied without even a bow. Nevertheless, the stories portrayed her as very necessary to the nine realms. He could allow some measure of impudence.

"Listen, I gotta talk to you about Loki."

"I have important matters to attend to, is this urgent...?"

"No but I'm going to hound you until you hear me out. So, now or later?" With another deep sigh, Odin settled his godly posterior into his seat and gestured for Dani to do the same.

"Ok, so you know how he's a frost giant and all that shit?" She questioned, unceremoniously flopping into the guilded chair across from Odin's massive wooden table.

"Wh- what-" Odin stumbled for a moment, aghast and at a loss for words. That rarely happened. He didn't like the sensation. "You- how do you know of Loki's heritage?" He hissed urgently, leaning forward.

"Huh? Oh, I know lots o' crap" She calmly nodded.

"Keep your voice down, mortal, he needn't know yet" the king whisper-yelled. Dani noted his bulging forehead vein and wisely did what he asked.

"Listen, I just think that-" she whispered

"Your opinion is of no consequence!" Dani stood up.

"Ok, you need to shut up and lemme finish and THEN give me your feedback, because your shitty facade is gonna backfire on you, kapish?" She told him, no longer whispering. Her last comment got Odin's attention.

"He will find out?"

"Of course he will! He's not an idiot, it's inevitable! And he isn't going to react well..."

"He is my son, I know what is best for him-"

"Okay, first of all, he doesn't feel like your son. Thor is getting showered with your praise and Loki knows that he won't ever be king. Thing is, he thinks that it's because he isn't as confrontational and aggressive as Thor."

"That is false! He would make a better leader, he would not resort to violence immediately in every situation-" Odin was no longer lowering his voice, and he was angrily thumping on the table with one hand.

"Wait- so is he going to be next in line to rule or is Thor?" Dani questioned.

"...Thor. Loki cannot rule."

"Why the hell not?" Odin's face darkened.

"He is a frost giant."

"So you DO think he is a monster."

"Of course not!"

"Then what's the problem?" Odin opened his mouth to answer but Dani cut him off again. "And before you say something along the lines of 'oh, having a frost giant on the throne of Asgard would be unTHINKable' " she said, lowering her voice to imitate Odins during her mocking of what he would say, "That's just stupid. You know him, if you really think he would be a better king than Thor, what he is should be INCONSEQUENTIAL."

"How dare you-"

"Dude, at least stop having him taught that frost giants are monsters! What do you think he's gonna remember first when he finds out who he really is? I mean, I know that one of 'em put your eye out" she gestured at his eyepatch, "but Loki is obviously not one of them. That could change unless you start acting like you really believe that you're his father-"

"GET OUT!" Odin thundered, standing.

"You-"

"GUARDS, TAKE HER TO HER QUARTERS!" His face was beet red and he was breathing heavily. Dani decided not to test her luck.

"Okay, okay, I got it, I can walk" she insisted to the guards who rushed in. "Jeez..."

XXX

It worked, though, and that was all that mattered.

Odin started taking more of an interest in Loki, encouraging his magic and reading. He did convince him to start training in combat, which Loki excelled at.

He changed his tone about frost giants as well. When his sons begged for his stories, he portrayed Loki's people less as mindless beasts and more as people who just were raised in the wrong situation. Dani couldn't have been more proud. Sadly, when she winked at him because he was following her advice he would start getting unnecessarily angry. That didn't stop her from winking, though, being the person she was.

Time passed quickly. She started skipping through time in largish chunks, and shortly her friends were adults. She hadn't aged a day. In fact, Dani could tell that she looked the same as she had when she fell in the ice in spite of the fact that she was thirty-four and had been in this dimension for sixteen years. She chalked that up to the fact that her body was dead in the ice somewhere. Ghosts tend to not age.

Thor's coronation was coming up very soon. Disappointingly, Odin had not taken her advice about choosing Loki to be king, and Thor the reckless party animal was on track to rule. Odin hadn't told Loki who he was either. And, he was desperately avoiding any alone time with Dani, making it impossible for her to convince him to change his mind. She had considered telling Loki herself but the visions told her that would only make things worse, that Thor would never be banished to earth and never find Jane and Thor would never join the Avengers- Hell, the avengers wouldn't even be formed because Loki would have taken over Asgard and wouldn't come after the tesseract.

And Odin would die. That tiny detail seemed more and more inconsequential every day but she figured it would be best to just let time run it's course.

She was far from prepared, however, when Loki asked for her assistance in pranking Thor on his special day.


	18. Chapter 18

**Hello peeps- I'll keep it brief.**

 **First of all I would like to apologize for the huge gap since last update. My family is doing major changes on the house, and with my limited free time, I haven't given this much thought. Additionally, the guidelines say not to post just an author's note, and I didn't have a chapter written to go with the note to tell you why I wasn't updating. We're pretty much done on the house now, however, so I should have enough time to get back on the schedule.**

 **I have another story out now, I posted the chapter I had pre-written back when we started the house work. It updates Saturdays now, I just updated yesterday. It's kinda like this story except my OC just messed everything up. You might like it.**

 **-Stax**

 **Chapter 18**

"Loki, this idea SUCKS!" Dani didn't know why she was still trying, her friend didn't seem to care what she thought anymore.

"Not at all! You know how Thor is, he has it coming" he replied with a jovial smirk. His plan was to smuggle the Yotuns into the weapons vault in the middle of the coronation and interrupt everything. Dani shook her head.

"You're gonna get someone killed if you keep doing these types of pranks, dude! What's wrong with buckets of water above the doors!?"

"Duuuuude" Loki echoed mockingly. "That's barely a prank, I need something that makes an IMPRESSION!" he said flamboyantly as he gestured with hands.

"Then use paint instead of water! Make everyone look pink!" Disdainfully, Loki looked dowm his nose at her.

"Are you going to help me or not?" Sighing, Dani decided she would be better coming along as damage control rather than sit this out and hope for the best.

"...I'm in." She looked around at the cave they were in. "So this is that secret portal you were talking about?" Nodding, Loki stepped forward and disappeared. Following quickly, Dani found herself in a frozen, desolate landscape. "Wait up you stinker!" She yelled at the swift moving figure of her friend. Loki flipped her off. "WHY do you keep doing that?"

"I told you, I'm never stopping until you tell me it's meaning" he smirked. She was getting really, really sick of that smirk.

"Fine, be that way, but it's gonna get you in trouble some day" she bitterly snapped back. The cold seemed to be sapping her patience. Loki looked taken aback slightly.

"I... uh..." for the most part, Dani was good at keeping her cool. So when she got angry, he knew things were very wrong. "Bro, come on, you know this is gonna be frickin' awesome" he said, jokingly imitating her American accent. That always got a smile out of her.

"Let's just get this crap over with" she huffed, plowing ahead with a sudden burst of speed. Loki knew then that something was deffinitely wrong. He figured she would come around once she saw how funny the prank would be.

XXX

Dani stood in a corner while Loki pretended to be a traitor to Asgard, convincing the Frost Giants at a tavern that he needed them to help attack the weapons vault to weaken his "mortal enemies". She eyed him grumpily and rubbed her freezing arms. Loki finished quickly but it wasn't fast enough for the irate blonde.

"You're full of shit, you know that?" She wheezed as the cold air burned her throat. Loki gently tugged her out of the cold building into the even colder tundra. She really hasn't dressed for this.

"Are you ok...?" He questioned, noticing her blue lips and fingers.

"Are you a stupid ass prick who doesn't know what's too far for a prank?" Loki wasn't amused.

"I guess you aren't cold then." Rolling her eyes, she hobbled along as well as she could. Gradually she lagged behind, however, and Loki had to come back for her.

"Do I have to carry you?"

"No." She continued to plod forward on her frozen feet, shivering nearly upsetting her balance. Loki sighed and she found herself off the ground. "Put me down or so help me-"

"I AM helping you" he sighed again. Dani gave up but gave him a death glare the rest of the way home.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They made her wear a dress for the coronation. Dani was feeling about ready to find Odin and kick him where the sun don't shine, and as she stood waiting for Thor's arrival, she found the need to list the reasons to NOT assault the king.

Thor entered in his typical flamboyant fashion, and Dani tuned out as she pulled on a loose thread halfway down the skirt.

There wasn't ANYTHING she could do to stop events from happening. If she did, the first Avengers movie would never happen, hence the Avengers would never become a team, and baaaad baaaaad things would follow. She wished she didn't have the visions so that she could fix this in good conscience...

A ruckus rose around her. Dani ignored the now two feet of sring in her hand and tuned back into her surroundings. Thor was arguing that this was an act of war. Rolling her eyes, she stepped back into the crowd to head to her room. This would be best waited out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Once she got to her room, Dani instantly skipped forward in time and the moon shone through the window.

"That's not good" she observed cynically. She nervously tugged at the thread on her dress and flopped on the bed. Given that she didn't know how long she had been gone, it seemed logical to stay here and not risk getting flung into the middle of things.

Her decision didn't matter, however, because the party came to her.

"Loki?" She asked as a pale face appeared around the door. Creaking heavily, the wooden slab opened further to reveal her sorely dejected looking friend. Blue eye met blue- his held sad accusation.

"You knew." Dani quickly inferred that he meant the whole "secretly a Frost Giant" thing. Drooping ever so slightly, she gestured for him to sit next to her on the unnecessarily cushy duvet.

"I don't expect you to believe or understand why" she began hesitantly, "but there was no way I could tell you that without messing up a lot of things. I hope you can forgive me." He didn't look very forgiving.

"You could earn forgiveness." Dani wrinkled her face suspiciously. Loki was a manipulative son of a gun, this she knew firsthand. She didn't like where this was going.

"That depends entirely upon what you want." He turned to face her seriously, breath cold on her face.

"I want you to help me rule Asgard, I need an advisor. I believe you have prophetic power." Huffing, Dani whipped her head away. That would put her in a front row position when Loki sent the Destroyer after Thor, Sif and the Warriors Four. But she would have to betray him because they had to win.

"I can't do that. I can help you get to a good ending but not the one you want." She could feel his (ironically) heated stare on her neck.

"You feel as they do" he hissed. She spun and raised her eyebrows questioningly. "You think I'm a monster, after all these years-"

"Not freaking true!" She yelled, standing up violently. The last of the thread in her hand came out and she suddenly found herself wearing a miniskirt instead of a floor length one. She cursed her luck; only she could have timing this atrocious.

After a moment where both awkwardly stared at her now bare knees, she looked back up and continued:

"You aren't a monster, Loki, not yet. Uh... it's not who you are, but what you do that defines you." He gave her a look. "And that was a Batman quote. Bat- uh, nevermind. What I'm saying is, you aren't a monster just because you're a Frost Giant. You WILL be a monster if you try to kill everyone." Loki looked shocked.

"I wasn't trying to kill anyone" he said. She realized that he didn't have plans to send the Destroyer yet because he didn't know about Thor's pals going after him.

"Uh... forget that. Just, remember that Thor is your brother even if it's through adoption, okay?" Loki stood, once again towering over her.

"You won't reconsider?"

"No, sorry..." Loki looked pretty put down. He stood in the doorway for a moment before smirking slightly and glancing down at the fabric around her feet he added:

"You still look hella stupid in those threads. They're sooo last season" before closing the door. A lock clicked. Sighing, Dani was grateful that he had at least left with that lighthearted comment. Perhaps there was hope for him yet.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dani woke up from a restless slumber to loud sounds outside. She rushed out quickly to find the brothers dueling on the bridge, and arrived just in time for Thor to break off the end with his hammer. Loki was flung off and barely caught himself

"LOKI!" She shrieked, dashing to the edge where he hung on his staff. "Hang on!" Thor too urged him to stay, Odin was quickly approaching from behind, but Loki made eye contact one last time with Dani. He looked so ashamed it hurt. He half mouthed "I'm sorry!" Before letting go. Without another thought, she lept after him.

Everything felt surreal. She could hear Thor's voice fading behind her as the darkness closed around the falling pair. Loki was yelling something at her but the sound wasn't reaching her; he looked panicked that she had jumped.

"What did you want me to do, let you face Thanos alone?" She yelled angrily. He didn't hear her. Flailing frantically, she half swam through the thickening almost-atmosphere closer to her friend. Momentarily their hands brushed.

And then the light surrounded her again.

XXX

 _"Sorry, just recalibrating some things"_ the sphere projected into her mind.

"Screw you!"

 _"Uh... was that a bad time?"_ It bobbed nervously. White light stretched all around Dani and she was floating. _"I'll be quick and then you can move on with your mission."_

"I swear, sphere, if you had a neck I'd break it!" She yelled. Her voice sounded weird in the foreign space.

 _"Calm down, there's some major glitches in our systems and we sent some wrong people to the wrong places-"_

"I DON'T CARE! This was the WORST time for you to pull me out, and damnit you've had some really bad times!" The sphere was quiet for a moment. The moment dragged out onto several moments. "WELL?"

 _"There, done. It pays to be patient."_

"Send me back."

 _"What? No, I can't do that. You have to finish your mission."_ Sure enough, the room was fading.

"No! NO! I have to go back! I need to-" she stopped yelling. She was in a greasy looking apartment. "Where the hell am I?"

"I was wondering when this would happen." The voice came from a dilapidated La-Z-boy that faced away from her. A small television set lit the dim room with flickering artificial light.

"Uh-" she smelled Mexican food. _Why is that familiar?_ The figure stood up.

"You're uglier than I expected." Dani shook herself.

"Deadpool?" She couldn't believe it.

"No, your mom" he snarked. Dani stepped forward menacingly.

"I'm supposed to be dealing with YOU?" Dani had an aversion to the Antihero simply because several of her friends from the internet thought highly of him, and being Dani, she had to do the exact opposite.

"Huh? No, the author just wanted a cameo of yours truly" he stated, stuffing what appeared to be a chalupa into his half-masked face.

"Author? What the hell are you talking about?"

Deadpool opened his mouth to reply but was suddenly overtaken with a coughing fit, choking on his chalupa.

"I know that's you" he wheezed accusingly at the ceiling.

"Who the hell are you talking to?" Dani wildly looked around. Something was up.

Finally clearing his throat, Deadpool rasped "the writer of this story-" unfortunately, a nearby bookshelf chose that exact moment to tip away from the wall and pin the poor man to the floor.

"Wait... you always are able to break the fourth wall... this is a story?" A fire alarm suddenly rang in the building, beckoning her to leave quickly. "No. Wait. Who's doing that?" Something clicked in her mind. "This is a damn FANFICTION, ISNT it!?" A panel from the ceiling fell towards her head but she noticed and stepped aside. "Holy shit, you mean I could just go home now?" She felt sick to her stomach. "This is one of those 'the OC visits the fandom universe' ones, isn't it!" Another floorboard came loose on one end and swung down, narrowly missing her face. She looked up at the ceiling and yelled "STOP DOING THAT, I KNOW YOU'RE-"

Just then a horde of the most adorable puppies ever lept through the window, surrounding her.

"Oh my gosh- wait, how did they get in here?" The distractions weren't working.

"You should probably run while you can" Deadpool wheezed, pulling himself out from under the bookshelf. A fire started in the microwave suddenly.

"SERIOUSLY, STOP!" Dani yelled upwards.

"No, that was my bad, I forgot to take my danm burrito out of the wrapper-" Deadpool rushed over and started beating the microwave with a very unused broom. It didn't do much. The puppies danced around his feet, oblivious to the danger.

Dani rushed to the window and looked down. They were at least three or four floors up, the fire escape was rusted out but it would be the quickest way to get out. She turned back momentarily; Deadpool was waving around a flaming broom, tripping on the puppies and yelling some very R rated things. She decided not to waste any more time and swung a leg out.

Then the light surrounded her again.

She materialized in a new place and landed on her head.

"OW! DAMNIT!" The sphere was hovering in front of her.

 _"Sorry, I sent you to the wrong place..."_

"What? No, send me back! Loki needs me!" She got the distinct feeling that she had forgotten something important. A bump was rising on her head and her thoughts felt vaguely fuzzy. The sphere hummed confusedly.

 _"That's not where you just-"_

"Just send me BACK!" Damnit, what was it? Something important was tugging at the back of her mind.

 _"...I can't do that. You're already at the spot for the next part of your mission. I need to go, we have some major issues with the servers here. The wrong people are being sent to the wrong places and timelines are getting messed up-"_

"I don't care about your job! Thanos is going to mess with Loki's head and I don't want him to turn into the bad guy!" The sphere hummed judgementally.

 _"He has to go through that. Otherwise, the events of the first Avengers movie won't happen so they become a team. You have to take care of this as well so those events exist. Good luck."_

"No! No, SPHERE, WE ARE NOT DONE HERE!" It was already fading. "SPHERE!" Angrily she stomped around, cussing at the sky. _Useless, useless! You couldn't help him before and you couldn't help him now!_

She was pulled out of her rage by a ground shaking impact behind her. Dani knew exactly who it was without looking. Gulping nervously, she readied herself to deal with the Hulk.

 **The Deadpool thing was cheesy as hell, I know, but I've been wanting to do that for a while. If nobody likes it I might edit it out later but yeah... it kinda got away from me XD**

 **Also a shout out to user "CHBNewRomeHogwartsBerk" for totally predicting what I planned on doing... :)**


	19. I'm rewriting this story

Hello everyone, I'm sure you're wondering what the name of sweet frick is going on. Well, I'll tell you.

I abandoned my stories during the last semester of college. I couldn't write as well as I wanted and still have time to do the crap-ton of homework and studying I needed to get my straight A's.

I came back the first day of winter break and read my stories. I hated them. I feel like I've done a crappy job especially on "Home Is Where Your Heart Is" in particular, and am currently re-writing it. The name sucks, there's grammar mistakes up the wazoo because I couldn't be bothered to check for them, the page breaks I put in didn't show up, the first chapter takes too long to get to the action, and I never went back and fixed my version of Tony's parents' death when Civil War came out. Altogether, I feel I can do a better job re-writing rather than just going back and patching some of the cruddy spots. The re-write is titled "Free Falling". I will leave the old one up for a few months. I've already written six chapters, I will be updating every week on Monday, usually in the evening. I plan on finishing the entire story in the next three weeks before I have to return to school.

You might be asking yourself, how the heck is she gonna finish the entire story before break?

Lemme tell ya.

I now have a computer. Before I was typing that crud up on a tablet and it took me three times as long. I've timed my writing/revision time for the chapters I've re-written so far, and it takes me half an hour to forty-five minutes to complete one. I estimate, based on today and yesterday's work, that I can write about three to seven chapters in a day, depending solely upon how much sleep I've had and whether I drank my tea or not. I will be chugging the tea all throughout break, my friends.

My secondary story, "The Fangirl," will not be getting a total revamp, but I will be going through to fix the page breaks and grammar errors. I will try to finish writing that too so that I can have regular updates, but not until "Free Falling" is done. We'll see how that goes.

Please note that I am also writing a book. My focus is on fanfiction, but if anything is to keep me from finishing my re-write before I return to the hell-hole known as college, it would be that. It's totally award-winning material, I'll mention you all if it makes me famous.

I can't think of anything else that needs to be said, but if I do I will put it at the end of a chapter.

Here's hoping your winter break is as awesome as mine,

Stax


End file.
